Eastern Bloc - Graduate Collection

The collection Eastern Bloc is an exploration of the Czechoslovak culture when it was under the Communist regime in the 1970s – when all essential goods including fabrics and clothing were scarce and designers were required to find inventive ways to make clothes out of the little available. 1970s was a monotone period in the country, the grey eroding stone walls of the capital Prague juxtaposing with the bright, uniform colour palette of beige, green, brown, blue and red in people’s fashion perfectly depict the mood back then – grey and humble. Sourcing inspiration from authentic Czechoslovak fashion magazines, I have designed a tailoring based collection where the key features include modularity, uniformity and functionality with elements having been exaggerated in its amount and proportion. Having sourced authentic fabrics back in Czech Republic, and styling it with my personal approach resulted in a collection which reflects both the beautiful and the ugly of totalitarianism.