Folkwear Society

In 2014 I founded Folkwear Society. I envisioned an online educational platform dedicated to digitalising rare knowledge on cultural and folk artefacts and aimed to build a community of collectors, art historians, cultural anthropologists, museum experts and connect them with pure enthusiasts from across the world. Starting with my native country, I single-handedly carried out the research for salvaging the knowledge and history around folk clothing and artefacts from Romania, including archive research, museum experts’ and collectors’ meetings, and travelling the country to source precious artefacts. At www.folkwearsociety.com, people can now learn about the history of the peasant culture and folk art in Romania, the ancient techniques of making of these items from hemp or linen fabrics, the typologies and the ethnographic regions specific to types of folk wear. The project has no commercial outlet and relies on salvaging and preserving original ethnic clothing and continuously generating anthropological content on the topics, together with offering the breeding space for debates on issues of sustainable clothing, heritage, the meanings of “authenticity”, zero-waste design and ethical trading as well. I collaborated with branding agency Brandient in developing the name, the visual identity and brand narrative of the Folkwear Society platform.

This project was born as a result of a passion and a frustration altogether: I had always been fascinated with ethnic clothing and jewellery whenever I would travel to a foreign culture, but the anthropologist in me was perpetually frustrated at the lack of information (online or elsewhere) about these artefacts.

I felt as if I were missing out on some great folk stories to be learnt regarding each item - from its making to its symbolism. I was aware that folk art is not something that can be institutionalised — on the contrary, it is alive, unrestrictive, un-theorised, forever open to change and transformations.

Folk clothing in particular tells a story about ancient ethnographic regions, ethnicity, social status, occupations and occasions — of centuries of socio-historical interactions and transformations. These artefacts are not static labels of a time long past - they, in fact, play an active role in the process of identity creation of both individuals and communities.

My country of birth, Romania, was a particularly fascinating case to kickstart the project with. The peasant culture and folk art played a quintessential part in Romania's history and identity, which is why it was one of the main targets of the ideological "reinterpretations" of the communist regime that was installed in 1946. Nowadays, Romania is witnessing a revival of interest in its past, with a focus on folk clothing and artefacts, as part of a struggle to re-establish its national identity in the wake of four decades of a nationalist dictatorship. As a result, considerable items of folk clothing are slowly disappearing without a record as traders rush to supply the local (and global) demand for ethnic clothing.

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