From high fashion to flak jackets: Local Odesa designer now outfits Ukrainian military

ODESA, Ukraine — There’s not much difference between designing dresses and bulletproof vests, says Ivan Fotesko, a fashion designer turned army outfitter from Odesa.

Fotesko and his friends still can’t believe the turn their lives have taken. Mid-morning they sit at an outdoor cafe to speak with a visiting American journalist from The Hill. Across the street is the municipality’s food distribution center for Ukrainians who have fled their home cities now under Russian occupation.