Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to look with your eyes wide open

A graduate from Dnipropetrovsk Academy of Construction and Architecture, Victoria Yakusha completed her studies with an internship at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Strasbourg in France. During her third year she completed her first project : a six-hundred square meter restaurant and in 2007, she opened her own architecture and design studio — Yakusha Design.

Influenced by the events in Ukraine that took place in 2014, she changed the direction of her design department by creating her first «Ethno Design» collection under the name Faina. Embodying her Ukrainian identity became her primary goal and she started focusing on designing and producing authentic objects, inspired by the ethnic traditions and the cultural symbols of her native Carpathian mountains region. Natural materials are at the heart of her work — wood, felt, wool, clay — enabling people to see and feel the essence of her homeland, narrating the tale of its animal history and its traditions. Her first piece was a chair, then a table, then a sofa… Victoria releases a new Faina collection each year, imbued with «soul and heart» as she likes to say.

Victoria Yakusha regularly exhibits at international furniture fairs in Bologna, Copenhagen and Milan.