Atelier, Russia’s First Fashion Magazine

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Pages from the only issue of the Russian fashion magazine Atelier (1923)





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From Inna Fedorova's article "1920s Soviet fashion: Leather jackets and geometric patterns":

At that time, Russia received its first fashion magazine, Atelier, created under the innovative Atelier Mod (Fashion House). Its main purpose and task were set out in an editorial article: “The active and tireless pursuit to identify all that is creatively perfect, that deserves the most attention in the sphere of material culture.”

The grandeur of conception was determined by just one list of stars who agreed to collaborate with the magazine — the artists Yury Annenkov, Boris Kustodiev, and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, the sculptor Vera Mukhina, the poet Anna Akhmatova and many others.

In addition to luxurious illustrations and advanced Constructivist models, the magazine offered an overview of current European trends, in which the Soviet control system saw “vestiges of capitalism.” The fashion magazine’s first issue was its last. If not for the excesses of Soviet censorship, Russia would now have its own Vogue and Harpers Bazaar all rolled into one.

More information (in Russian) at the Russian State Library.























































Dear internet editors: When you reblog more than 50% of a post you raise my blood pressure and hence shorten my lifespan.


This post first appeared on May 29, 2014 on 50 Watts