EBRD and EU support Ukrainian fashion producer in wartime

“We didn’t want to leave Ukraine and relocate our business, although our partners from other countries offered their help,” Iryna says.  

“We returned to Mykolaiv in May 2022, when the city was as safe as it could be, considering its proximity to the front line. It was very important to us to save our core team. Our dedicated employees were happy to continue their fantastic work, despite the air raids. Some of our workers have left Ukraine, so we are currently hiring professionals who have relocated from other regions to ours.” 

The topic of war is very difficult for Iryna’s family. They fervently wished they would not be forced to leave their homeland. They consider themselves lucky to have been able to return. 

As it should be 

The company’s name comes from the French "comme il faut", meaning “as it should be” or “behaving or dressing in the right way”. 

It was Irina's father-in-law who combined this idea with the traditions of manufacturing to form the company in 2000. “He passed away very early. My husband had been working with his father for less than a year and I was building a successful career at an international bank at the time. Nevertheless, all roads led us here and that was as it should be.”  

The company put in a request to the EBRD for a specialised computer-aided design system, so that it could make use of the expert information technology available in the field. The automated design and layout system, based on internationally recognised software, allowed Komilfo to transfer all of its pattern development from paper to digital. This made the process faster and more efficient.  

“The project, supported by the EBRD and the EU, has been that crucial missing piece in our system, something we had in mind but wouldn’t have been able to launch on our own. It was a perfect match and started a new era for our business: we scaled up our production, automated production processes, increased our number of employees and entered new markets. We are especially conscious of the long-lasting impact of this project during this difficult time of war, because it would be impossible to work remotely without this system”, Iryna explains. 

Today, Komilfo is like a professional assistant to its customers, holding the key to an expansive home wardrobe, offering loungewear, comfortable cotton pyjamas, luxurious velour suits, fashionable chic sportswear and more. 

“I realised that we needed to update our existing website to tell the whole world about the outstanding products we make. That’s why we applied for a second project with the EBRD. The task is to engage experienced developers and create a powerful platform for developing the great potential of online sales,” Iryna says. 

For several years in a row, Komilfo has received a “Brand of the Year Award” in Ukraine, based on consumers feedback. The company is currently working in foreign markets, including Germany, Canada, the United States of America, Italy, the Netherlands and Israel. The goal is to expand its international reach even further.