On March 23, Oleksii Kavytskyi passed away at the age of 39. He was a new-generation entrepreneur and the son of the founders of Helen Marlen Group, Oksana and Mykhailo Kavytskyi.
Oleksii was responsible for innovation and digital transformation in the family business and was among the pioneers who helped shape Ukraine’s online retail sector. His strategic vision contributed to changing how Ukrainians perceive shopping in the fashion industry, helping the traditional premium segment adapt to the new online era.
UA.News recounts what Oleksii Kavytskyi was like for business and society, highlighting his creative approach to entrepreneurship, innovation, and life. The farewell ceremony will take place in Kyiv on Wednesday.
He saw digital as inevitable
Oleksii Kavytskyi belonged to a wave of Ukrainian entrepreneurs who, after receiving a Western education, modernized various sectors of the national economy. He studied marketing at the University of Edinburgh, returned to Ukraine in 2012, and began developing the online business of the family company.
He co-created numerous projects in fashion retail and e-commerce, was unafraid of experimentation, and was ready to relaunch strategies when needed.
In effect, Kavytskyi brought conservative luxury retail into the digital space at a time when the market was not yet ready. In 2012, most Helen Marlen customers were reluctant to change their consumer habits, so the online segment began as an experiment. He recalled that at the time no one clearly knew what to do: “There were only persistent SEO specialists offering us advertising based on keywords like ‘fashionable shoes.’”
Kavytskyi was among the first in Ukraine to understand that luxury clients would also move online, and that e-commerce would not replace offline sales but complement them.
In 2017, he founded Samsonika, a company responsible for the digital direction of Helen Marlen Group. The idea was to provide every customer with the same high level of service as in boutiques in city centers—without leaving home. Under his leadership, the digital transformation of the family business added up to 20% to the company’s turnover within a few years and positioned Helen Marlen Group among the leaders of Ukraine’s premium segment.
In 2018, he described the long-term goals of the online strategy: “We are in an incubation cocoon, where I have the opportunity to grow before international players truly enter Ukraine. To prepare for their arrival. Global companies will not understand the mindset of Ukrainian consumers.”
His guiding principles in life and business
“I don’t have unshakable principles. A bit from all the world’s religions and good upbringing at home,” Oleksii Kavytskyi once said. Among his life principles, he emphasized doing good: “Do good deeds at any cost. Only inner balance truly matters.”
Speaking about luxury e-commerce and working with teams, he explained: “I joined the family business to grow the family’s wealth by making the company’s processes more technological and innovative.”
“In modern business, everything depends on people. A good resume only helps for the first two months, until the whole team understands who you really are.”
Books held a special place in his life. He believed that all answers could be found in books: “The main thing is not to be lazy. Audiobooks are not something to be ashamed of. What is shameful is laughing at those who listen to books while scrolling through a meaningless social media feed.”
Reflections on the world
In the final months of his life, Kavytskyi shared reflections on tectonic shifts in the global economy:
“Sometimes you look at economic news and get a strange feeling. It’s as if the world keeps functioning, businesses keep running, money keeps moving—but something in the system has already started to creak. As if the news is coming from a time just before a big storm…”
“...There’s a strange feeling, as if the economy has turned into a game with enormous numbers—trillions, quadrillions, sextillions. Sometimes it seems that all media are focused only on maintaining this illusion of endless growth...
The world looks strange.
Football clubs with record revenues operate at a loss.
Global brands are leaving markets.
Entire currencies are disappearing.
Technology reaches only part of humanity.
And the wealth of certain individuals grows to unimaginable levels.
And the news keeps coming every day, as if everything is normal.
But it feels like the system has already begun to crack somewhere deep inside.”
Family and the meaning of life
In such a turbulent life, his highest value was always family. Together with his wife, he raised three children.
Oleksii believed: “The meaning of life lies in love and inspiring journeys. And most of the money should be spent on children and everything connected with them.”
The publication uses quotes from materials by NV, AIN, and Facebook: Kavitskiy Alexey.
