Olena Teliha and women's magazines: a vision of fashion and feminism through the prism of the national idea

Purpose of the Study. This article aims to offer a comprehensive interdisciplinary rethinking of Olena Teliha—not only as a poet and political activist of the 1930–1940s, but also as an overlooked visionary in the context of Ukrainian fashion journalism and women’s media. The research proposes to reinterpret Teliha as a potential creator of a modern national women’s magazine—an intellectual and aesthetic media project that would synthesize femininity, nationalism, style philosophy, and a unique form of feminist thought. Methodology. The study is based on a combination of archival research, visual and textual analysis, and contextual interpretation. It draws upon photogra­phic materials from the Central State Audiovisual and Electronic Archive of Ukraine, correspondence of Teliha with her contemporaries, biographical testimonies, and her own journalistic publications. Special attention is given to Teliha’s editorial work in the Litavry weekly and her philosophical reflections on fashion, style, and the role of women in national discourse. Scientific Novelty. The research fills a methodological gap in Ukrainian media and gender studies by introducing a new perspective on Olena Teliha as a precursor of ideologically conscious, stylistically sophisticated Ukrainian women’s publishing. Unlike the dominant interpretations that reduce her to poetic or nationalist-symbolic dimensions, this article reveals her as a cultural leader who was on the threshold of founding a Ukrainian analogue of Harper’s Bazaar — a magazine rooted in national ideology and an aesthetic of female strength. Teliha’s vision combined heroic nationalism with a refined understanding of style and gender identity, opposing both Soviet collectivist models and Western liberal feminism. Conclusions. Olena Teliha embodied a model of “heroic femininity” that resisted ideological unification and cultural repression through aesthetics and intellectual discourse. Her editorial approach and philosophical views on style represent an early form of feminist resistance embedded in national values. The study argues that had her life not been cut short in 1942, Teliha would likely have become the founder of a new type of Ukrainian women’s magazine — one that combined national ideology, editorial leadership, visual aesthetics, and philosophical depth. This article restores her rightful place in the history of Ukrainian fashion journalism and women’s intellectual history.

Keywords: Olena Teliha, women’s press, feminism, style, occupied Kyiv, publishing, women’s magazines, emancipation, nationalism.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2025-1-89-176-189