How the Bolsheviks began creating clothing for Soviet people (PHOTOS)

In 1917, the Bolsheviks began building not only a new state, but also a new society. Daily life and consciousness were formed from scratch. And even how a Soviet citizen should dress was discussed at the highest level. 

In the first post-revolutionary years, avant-garde artists, who had enthusiastically embraced the new order, set out to help the authorities in this aspect, as well. One of the first Soviet designers was artist Varvara Stepanova, wife of photographer and artist Alexander Rodchenko, who proclaimed convenience, austerity and neatness as the main criteria for the clothing of the Soviet proletariat.

Stepanova developed designs for ‘prozodezhda’, literally clothing for production work. She created geometric designs and prints for fabrics that matched the avant-garde spirit. All elements of this wardrobe were of the simplest possible cut and devoid of any decoration or frills.

“The entire decorative and embellishing side of clothing is destroyed by the slogan: ‘convenience and expediency of the costume for a given production function’,” Stepanova wrote in an article for the ‘LEF’ magazine in 1923. And, in the same issue, she published sketches of her designs.

Actress Yevgenia Zhemchuzhnaya posed in Stepanova’s clothing.

Even Lilya Brik, arguably Moscow's greatest fashionista, wore it.

Stepanova's husband, Alexander Rodchenko, also posed in her clothing.

Stepanova created more than 100 sketches and drawings of clothing. She was no ordinary designer, as she had served on the board for fine arts under the Soviet government and, later, taught at various art courses. In the 1920s, cotton fabrics with her patterns were produced quite actively.

However, the history of Stepanova's experiments ended already in the 1930s. Authorities concluded that they did not need the fantasies of eccentric avant-garde artists and, from then on, required standardization in all fields.