Moda Polska fashion house created folk collections which would give rise to the ‘international-meets-local’ aesthetic which helped define Polish fashion.

The Trend for Tradition

Kalina Paroll for Moda Polska, late 1960s and early 1970s. Photo: Wiesław M. Zieliński ©East News

The Moda Polska fashion house also created folk collections which would give rise to the ‘international-meets-local’ aesthetic which helped define Polish fashion.

Folk elements were generally applied to collections destined to grace the world stage, and they quickly became a distinctive feature of Polish fashion. Until that time, Polish fashion had been dominated by French and British style, for women’s and men’s clothing respectively. Now, the latest French designs merged with the aesthetic of rural Poland and the authorities who controlled the country’s state-run fashion industry supported anything that could be considered local or regional.

Sophisticated and original, local but entirely in line with European trends, Moda Polska’s Autumn/Winter ‘69 collection was designed by Kalina Parol. Like Grabowska and Antkowiak, Parol was considered one of Moda Polska’s most important designers. Her collection, which was shown in Moscow and Paris, featured sheepskin hats with futuristic-looking conical earflaps, that took inspiration from the traditional mountain coats found in Zakopane, Poland’s most exclusive ski resort. Embroidered sheepskin coats were beloved of Polish celebrities and fashion icons alike while Zakopane-style hats with wide brims were matched by Zakopane-style geometric cloaks and bellbottoms emblazoned with gigantic flowers. The collection simply dripped with decorative folk elements.