Bettter is Pelipas to the core. Suit jackets are just the right amount oversized and the pants are perfectly slouchy, all with a sharp dose of exquisite tailoring. Everything hangs and fits just so. (The styling of the lookbook is also very Pelipas in her signature high-meets-low aesthetic: Oversized jackets are placed over graphic T-shirts and trousers are paired with sneakers.) Each style is named after a well-suited icon. A boxy thigh-grazing gray suit jacket is titled Fran after Fran Leibowitz; a black jacket with a square cutout in the back is Rogers for the architects Richard and Su Rogers (who are also a couple). Pelipas first had the idea a few years ago but struggled to justify putting it out into the world. “We produced too much, we consumed too much, we were never 100% happy with the outcome because of those never-ending marketing stimulations. It reminded me of the ouroboros,” says Pelipas. “It’s only now that people are starting to think about what they buy.”
To help negate the wasteful aspect, each suit is sustainably made, sourced from secondhand markets or from deadstock from factories, and manufactured in her native Ukraine. Pelipas has an acute knowledge of the thrifting industry of Ukraine, which is an economic force in the Eastern European country. She began sourcing her own pieces from Lesnoy, a gigantic secondhand market of stalls and stores of already-worn garb located about 15 minutes outside of Kiev. When starting Bettter, she employed a scouting team of local youth she knew frequented the markets. Now the team travels beyond Kiev to the likes of Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi on the hunt for secondhand pieces and fabric to rework into suits.
For Pelipas, working with vintage is the most romantic part of creating clothes for Bettter. “Vintage has had life, and what we do is we actually fix it. We really repair it to the condition where you can live in that suit,” she says. In addition to the secondhand market, Pelipas has tapped local factories for deadstock fabric which has been rife with options, all of which comes at a time when they are facing an economic crisis. Her latest find? Fabric originally meant for old Ukrainian mens’ suiting. “It’s brilliant,” she says.