Fashion in the golden age of Yugoslavian 20th century textile and clothing industry

The development of fashion seems to have occurred in societies which were changing, where that change is valued by some group within the society, and social mobility was possible. Fashion is not possible in totally egalitarian society nor in a rigid hierarchy. The paper presents Slovenian/Yugoslavian fashion design based on local industrial and educational capacities in the golden age of the textile and clothing branch. The paradox of Western style fashion in the frame of socialistic political system in commented. In the late 1940s, Yugoslav modernity transmitted through fashionable dress was mainly representational, since industry was unable to deliver fashionable dresses due to post-war poverty and backwardness. Yugoslavia's different path toward socialism was mirrored in its different symbolic and material production of dress in comparison to that of other Eastern European countries. Although factories had been nationalised, attacks on Western fashion were never intense, and the Yugoslav regime did not establish a central dress institution to politically direct the design, production and distribution of clothes as it was the case in most Eastern European countries. The restoration and the development of the textile industry evoked a need for new jobs, specifically in textile and fashion design. The fashion scene in Slovenia/Yugoslavia started to differ from other Eastern countries. In the golden age of the national textile and clothing industry fashion collections have gone hand in hand with the European fashion.