Oléna finds freedom in fashion

Oléna Morozova’s journey into fashion began in a small Ukrainian childhood filled with pencils and paint. At three and a half years old, her mother noticed her endless appetite for drawing and took her to an art studio. What began as simple sketches became a lifelong rhythm of creativity. “As far back as I can remember, I was always creating,” Oléna says. By her teenage years, her interest in unusual clothes and bold images was already shaping her style. When the director of her art school told her about a new programme in fashion design in Kyiv, she knew she had found her path.

Her determination soon carried her further. She studied at the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, where she learned the foundations of design and textile work. Yet she longed for a broader artistic environment. Paris, for her, became that horizon. She prepared for years, studying French until she could hold fluent conversations, and set her sights on Studio Berçot, one of the city’s most recognised schools.

Her first trip to Paris was memorable for its obstacles. She arrived during Easter holidays only to find the school closed. With her return flight looming, she slipped her portfolio under the locked door, unsure if it would ever be seen. Ten days later, a letter reached her in Ukraine. She had been accepted. That daring gesture was the beginning of her life in Paris.

A Life Shaped by Art and Education

Oléna’s education did not stop with fashion. After Studio Berçot, she pursued a master’s at Paris 8, where she explored contemporary art, new media, and design. The combination of technical skill and artistic vision gave her a unique perspective. She worked as a stylist’s assistant in a couture house, gained recognition as a finalist at the Unitex Lyon competition, and began teaching visual arts.

In 2017, under UNESCO, she launched Art and Climate in the 21st Century, a project linking fashion and art to global responsibility. The exhibition reflected her belief that fashion is never only about beauty, it is also about ideas, messages, and awareness.

Creating Fashion Academy Paris

By 2013, Oléna knew she wanted to share her knowledge more widely. Moving from Ukraine to France had felt like stepping onto another planet. She wanted to ease that transition for others and give them the tools she had fought hard to acquire. “The Academy was born out of a desire to help students understand what to expect, to open the world of fashion education in France to those who dreamed of it,” she explains.

Her mentor from Kyiv, Professor Svetlana Markova, encouraged her, reminding her that knowledge is only complete when shared. Fashion Academy Paris became that bridge: a place where aspiring designers could start from zero and grow into professionals.

The Academy’s programs reflect this philosophy. Short intensives, evening classes, and a year-long course give flexibility for students balancing work or seeking reorientation. Within one year, students can create a professional portfolio and design a mini-collection.

The Academy also developed a program in fashion illustration, leading to Oléna’s book Le dessin de MODE Haute Couture, published by Mango Éditions in 2024 and later translated into Spanish. Covering proportions, volumes, materials, and textures, it is now available across Europe and Latin America, placing her teaching on a global stage.

The Joy of Teaching

Oléna sees no division between being a teacher, a founder, and a creative person. For her, teaching is an extension of creativity itself. “Sharing knowledge is a form of art,” she says. “Each year I transform as a teacher alongside my students.”

The results are tangible. Students from Fashion Academy Paris have won top prizes at Brussels Fashion Week’s emerging designer competition and presented their work at London Fashion Day. Many of them began with no prior training, arriving only with a dream. “Every year it’s wonderful to see how my students grow and what they achieve,” Oléna reflects. For her, these moments are proof that the Academy is not simply a school but a launchpad for creative voices.

Paris as Home

Paris, for Oléna, remains a natural habitat. She calls it the cultural capital of both fashion and art, a city where exhibitions are created at the highest level and inspiration is always close. “For me Paris is harmony,” she says. “Harmony in colour, in aesthetics, in culture, in everything around me.” In quiet moments, she finds balance walking through Palais Royal or Tuileries, and even in small joys, like growing her first tomato plants one summer.

At the heart of Oléna’s method is the belief that creativity must be nurtured alongside discipline. She insists her students not only master the techniques of drawing, draping, and construction, but also learn to trust their intuition and personal voice. “Fashion is not only about clothing, it is about expression,” she explains. This balance of logic and emotion is what defines the Academy’s spirit. Classes are built to encourage experimentation while giving students the professional structure they need to succeed, a combination that Oléna believes prepares them for the realities of the global fashion industry.

Fashion Academy Paris offers a wide range of programs suited for all levels, from total beginners to more experienced creatives. Their course catalogue includes L’essentiel de l’illustration de mode (fundamental fashion illustration), Cours de Stylisme Annuel (annual styling course), Cours Intensif Initial Fashion Designer (an intensive foundation designer course), as well as programs in Textile Management, Moulage de Robe (dress draping), Design Textile, Advanced Fashion Illustration, and Brand Marketing & International Management.

Looking Forward

Oléna dreams of expanding Fashion Academy Paris into new countries, opening branches and developing online formats to make training accessible worldwide. She envisions new books carrying her methods into classrooms across continents and sees her students continuing to claim space on international runways.

Her message to the next generation of designers, especially those from Ukraine and beyond who dream of Paris, is both simple and powerful: “The most important thing in life is desire. The second is knowledge. Everything is possible if you have a dream and follow it. Do not be afraid.”

If she could send advice back to her younger self, it would be the same: “Oléna, everything will work out. Don’t be afraid.”

‍