Dmytro Andreev, originally from Kharkiv, runs a shop in Vilnius selling exclusive sneakers.
The Ukrainian man has been working in fashion retail for 15 years, having started his career by reselling garments bought on eBay in Ukraine. He then worked as a consultant for a luxury fashion store and later threw himself into advertising.
His shop in Vilnius, which sells specialised footwear and accessories, embodies his particular approach to fashion – he considers shoes and accessories to be elements of self-expression and potential carriers of strong emotional impact.
One of Dmytro’s goals is to bring rare sneakers and accessories to the market, so that local customers can keep up with global trends.
“For me, rare and unusual means something that is not available here and is hard enough to find in European countries. Brands that can be bought in England, Japan or America, for example, but are quite difficult to bring here,” Andreev tells LRT.lt.
In search of the items for his shop, he has visited fashion weeks in Paris and Milan, as well as trade fairs in Munich and Florence. The Ukrainian admits that the Lithuanian market is seen as too small and unimportant by the big brands and he has to work hard to convince them.
“You could say I’m fighting for them,” Dmytro says. And he has been successful.
“The first win was Saucony, who agreed to sell me exclusive sneakers. Next autumn and winter season I will already have them. Keen has also made offers for shoes designed in collaboration with celebrities,” he says.
Different tastes and sizes
While working in Lithuania, Dmytro has noticed some differences between shoppers here and in Ukraine. One is size.
“This was a very big mistake, the first one I made. A year and a half ago, I ordered several pairs [of shoes] in sizes 42 and 43. I didn’t even think that the average foot size of Lithuanian men is 44, 45, 46,” says the businessman.
Not only are Lithuanian men bigger, their styles and tastes are different.
Dmytro initially assumed that Lithuanian shoppers had tastes similar to those in Spain, France or Germany. He later came to realise that theirs was closer to the Nordic style.
“Lithuanians are more like Scandinavians: simple colours, restrained, unobtrusive logos, maybe even a ‘no logo’ style,” says Dmytro.
His shop in Vilnius is frequented by people looking for exclusive footwear, but Dmytro notes that the exclusivity of the shoes is not the main criterion for their choice.
“In Ukraine, it’s very important for people to pick something rare. They can even queue for it. I don’t have any models that people queue for, but when I talk to customers I realise that it’s not that important to them. More important is how a person feels wearing shoes of a particular design or colour,” says Andreev.
Lithuanian shoppers also value good service and overall experience, he adds. Sometimes they come back to the shop not for a new purchase but just to chat with Dmytro.
“I have a client who is about 45–50 years old. She bought yellow Puma shoes on the opening day. She comes to see me quite often – apparently, she lives nearby – wearing the Puma shoes with different new outfits. She comes and says: Look,” Dmytro relates. “I find that very satisfying. And she likes it.”
No Ukrainian flags
Ukrainian flags have been ubiquitous in Vilnius and other towns across Lithuania in displays of solidarity with the country fighting the Russian invasion.
However, Andreev’s shop is devoid of any Ukrainian symbols, except for a few stickers on the counter.
Dmytro says that he deliberately chose not to display the Ukrainian flag at the entrance so as not to use the war for marketing.
However, most shoppers quickly discover Dmytro’s nationality.
“I can usually talk to customers for 40 minutes, which allows us to learn more about each other. I don’t speak Lithuanian, and many people inquire why. When I say I am from Ukraine, we find new topics of conversation,” he says.
Customers are usually positive and supportive. Dmytro can recall just one unpleasant incident linked to his nationality.
When the shop was still under renovation before the opening, an elderly woman walked in. She asked Dmytro what the shop was going to be. When he explained, the woman asked where the man was from. Dmytro answered he was from Ukraine.
“Why not in the trenches?” was her response. “That was the only unpleasant experience I had in the whole time I lived in Lithuania,” Dmytro says.
Ukrainian men are subject to military draft and are forbidden from leaving the country. Many of those who find themselves outside Ukraine avoid talking to the media for fear of being judged. But Andreev says he feels no fear of publicity because he has already received his “dose of hate” online.
The man did not leave the country during the war – he was already outside Ukraine when the large-scale invasion began in February 2022.
“My daughter and my wife were in Kyiv when the war started. Everyone seemed to have a sense that war was about to break out, but many, including me, did not believe it could happen,” Andreev recalls.
Once the war broke out, he did not return to Ukraine; his family first went to Moldova, then they tried to settle in Montenegro, and later found themselves in Lithuania. Here, Dmytro immediately went into business.
In Vilnius, Dmytro’s three-year-old daughter attends a Lithuanian kindergarten and speaks Lithuanian better than Russian.
“I recently asked her why she speaks Lithuanian with her dolls? She replied: So they don’t speak Russian. She is already more Lithuanian than Ukrainian,” says Andreev.
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