Fashion Meets Socialism - Fashion industry in the Soviet Union after the Second World War

by Jukka Gronow, Sergey Zhuravlev

The Soviet Union was not renowned for its fashionable clothing. However, after the World War II the Soviet Government opened several parallel organizations of fashion design with fashion houses and ateliers all over the country. The post-war decades witnessed hot debates on destalinization, economic and social reforms and the increasing importance of the public opinion. The cold war and the peaceful competition between the two systems left their marks on clothes fashion. Fashion offers a good insight into Soviet economic planning. Despite increasing opulence, Soviet consumers were not satisfied. Soviet experts on fashion propagated small series of fashionable clothing and the opening of boutiques which never seriously challenged industrial mass production. Using a great variety of unique historical sources the book analyzes the changing economic, social and cultural conditions of Soviet fashion which faced many problems but had real achievements to show too.

Genres: Soviet Union, Fashion

306 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Katri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting topic but the book itself was quite boring. It's a very academic book and a bit repetitive in my opinion. Very general. I expected more pictures, it was hard to imagine described clothes and styles without images. Also I would have liked to know more about USSR philosophy regarding fashion.