My six-week love affair with Russia has come to an end.
I have reached the conclusion that there will never be enough time to take in all that is Russia as travelling across the country is easier said than done and sometimes even proves to be quite perilous. One thing that is clear, wherever you go throughout the country, people seem to be living in a different fashion era altogether. The era is one that has an inescapable Russian DNA plastered all over it. The style is also neither in the present nor the past. It’s not even one that is extremely-trend focused, according to Western influence. I guess what makes it so Russian, is that everyone tries seemingly, to escape the fashion and imagery associated with Soviet times. Well for the most part at least the younger generation does.
It’s not a place where people are particularly fascinated by trends, but more so, how they can project an image to show that they don’t belong to a poor economic class, a closely controlled political structure or anything that can closely be associated with anything Soviet. Gold jewellery, fur, racy miniskirts and stilettos are considered to be daytime, coffee-shop appropriate. People want to be seen not heard!
Dating back to 1920s, the Bolshevik philosophy denounced western fashion consumption as it embraced capitalism. It can be argued that fashion was seen as a destructive tool which projected people’s economic status and clashed with their communist political stance. Communism was all about blending in, regardless of your role in society. During Soviet times, capitalist societies painted the peasant-like fashion of the communist societies as having a close association with poverty. Exploring fashion trends could be seen as a luxury if you were a part of the USSR during those times. Obviously, when such a notion is voiced anyone can interpret it as an insult. Who wants any association with poverty? In addition to this, as fashion magazines became more popular in the Stalin era, women and men became more aware of their options and fancied the hedonistic experience that fashion brought. It was something new that everyone craved for. It didn’t matter what you had, just as long as you weren’t dressed like the rest of the folks.
Though much of fashion in Russia has relied on Western influence, I can’t say the fashions worn by Russian people are in line with the ideologies of the West. An example is that people in the West (though not all) are seemingly more concerned with animal rights and ethics behind wearing fur, whereas as in Russian, owning something that has the genuine fur is the reality for many without much thought or consideration given to anything else. What Russia extracted from the West is the freedom to be able to choose, and the possibility of using fashion to communicate their values, economic class and such like; things that were difficult to do in the communist era. They fell in love with capitalism more or less, or should I say the options that it brought. Interestingly, not all generations have the same opinion. The older folks prefer the communist times. A few who I spoke with said it was an easier time to live in. Surviving wasn’t such a strenuous job and there was more certainty. Like their answers, their clothes spoke volumes – their headscarves were all tied in the same way. It was clear some were for and some were against the political background.
While I wouldn’t necessarily cap Russia as a fashion capital, it is an interesting place to observe how political atmospherics can have an effect on how we appreciate fashion. For Russian people, it seems that the communist period, opened up a desirable time for fashion, while it proved to be displeasing for some. During my stay I met with emerging Russian designer Roma from Roma Designs. It is not hard to see that he too doesn’t want much association with the Soviet era, his aesthetic is all about never going unnoticed.
