CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Platonova, Evgeniia |
|---|---|
| Title | Fashion in the Cultural Capital: Clothing Design in Leningrad, 1944-1964 |
| Summary | By the early 1950s, the USSR had a system of fashion houses located in the cities of the RSFSR and other Soviet republics. These institutions were responsible for designing and producing clothing for everyday wear for men, women, and children. The chain of these houses was headed by the All-Union Fashion in Moscow. This fashion house set the majority of principles of Soviet design, providing its branches with technical and aesthetics recommendations. However, many fashion houses detached their designs from Moscow, making their models of clothing. The Leningrad Fashion House was established in September 1944, and aimed to provide city residents with beautiful civil clothing. The local designers were expected to experiment with various forms and materials and to teach citizens how to dress. The perception of Leningrad as the “cultural capital” by natives had a significant impact on constructing “Leningrad fashion”. Such perspective became one of the prevailing narratives of “the myth of Petersburg”. The local people usually perceived Leningrad as the mythical city, that was cultured. Taking this into account, the project aims to explore Soviet fashion in Leningrad through the prism of the myth of Petersburg. It argues that the fashion house in Leningrad detached its designs from Moscow and other cities and aimed to create a local variant of Soviet fashion. Thus, the narrative of the “cultural capital” became a determinative element in constructing Leningrad fashion and the rules of good taste for city residents. Therefore, such an approach allows showing that Soviet fashion was not homogeneous, and its differences depended upon the social and cultural environment. |
| Supervisor | Siefert, Marsha; Karpova, Yulia |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/platonova_evgeniia.pdf |
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