The first and the most important exhibition about fashion in communist Poland
Fashionable in Communist Poland
photo by Mirosław Żak - Photography Studio, NMK
From 19 December 2015 to 17 April 2016, the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow held an exhibition titled FASHIONable in Communist Poland which reflected the unique character of fashion in the post-war decades. It features both casual, everyday clothing and creations by prominent designers who worked in Poland in the years 1945-1989.
text: National Museum in Krakow
The exhibition, jointly organised by the National Museum in Krakow and the National Museum in Wrocław, demonstrates how difficult and important it was to be fashionable in communist Poland. Women escaped from the hostile reality of the communist state to the world of fashion. Poles were determined to follow the trends and tried to draw inspiration mainly from the West. Women wanted to be 'FASHIONable', although the grim reality of empty store shelves did not make it easy. Dozens of items of clothing displayed at the exhibition testify to the creativity and entrepreneurship of the female residents of the Polish People's Republic. Today, these two traits are associated primarily with businesswomen or celebrities, whereas our mothers and grandmothers had to demonstrate them every day.
photo by Mirosław Żak - Photography Studio, NMK
Today's 'old-school'-themed parties and experimenting with vintage clothes introduce the objects from the past to the present fashion bloodstream and endow them with current meaning. The variety of clothing displayed in the exhibition FASHIONable in Communist Poland is so great that the modern fashionistas will be able to draw numerous ideas from their older counterparts. To prove it, the most interesting creations are presented in contemporary styling in photographs taken by the team from the NMK Photography Studio under the direction of Jacek Świderski.
Curators: Joanna Regina Kowalska (National Museum in Krakow),
Małgorzata Możdżyńska-Nawotka (National Museum in Wrocław)
Coordinator: Olga Jaros
Design: Elżbieta Szurpicka
FASHIONable in Communist Poland on Instagram