New trends draw more to museum
Ildikó Simonovics, fashion historian, Kiscell Museum
MúzeumCafé 20.
“We don’t dress from a window display. That’s a fundamental rule.” So says fashion historian Ildikó Simonovics at the start of our conversation. A surprise was caused in the summer by her museum’s latest initiative, Street Fashion Budapest, which aims to map everyday wear in the streets of the capital, highlighting popular street trends by means of photos and blogs, as well as involving the exciting MaDok museum documentation project. Young people who normally don’t visit museums and have also abandoned the traditional media were drawn to the exhibitions. “Street Fashion Budapest was far from being an imprint of the street,” Ildikó Simonovics stresses. “True, instead of the work of contemporary fashion designers I’m documenting everyday attire, but that doesn’t mean I take a camera to Moscow Square and photograph all and sundry, though I haven’t dispensed with that idea. But our homepage primarily speaks to the fashion-sensitive public – namely, how bravely and how creatively we dress, where do we buy our clothes, and how many styles characterise us.” The streetfashionbudapest.hu website is based on voluntarily uploaded photos and related information. The participants only appear to be extremists at first sight. Surfing through the many hundreds of photos and related matters – voting, comments, forums and blogs – the site is much more like an interactive fashion catalogue. Those registering to participate are not trend followers – they themselves with their diversity and individuality are the trend. Second-hand clothes and the most terribly expensive garments fit comfortably side by side, even in a single photograph. Unsurprisingly, the idea’s originator asserts that the clothing of subcultures and youth is continually being rediscovered and their stylistic trends are utilised by haute couture. “The fashion world is much more democratic than it used to be, but at the same time it doesn’t belong to everyone. It’s often said that there was no fashion in socialism, but that’s not true. There were professional fashion designers, who could have easily competed with their western colleagues. Clearly Hungary could not have produced a Paco Rabanne, but the more famous domestic salons, like that of Klára Rotschild’s, did not necessarily dress the ordinary member of the public.” By showing examples of those who boldly adopt styles, who like to look good and project a harmonious image of themselves, the website is likely to generate imitation. Such models are really needed, since in comparison with Stockholm, Amsterdam and particularly London, people in Budapest are far less daring in what they wear. From the most individual models of street style, professional fashion photography is created, and some of the garments will be included in the museum’s collection. This will all soon become clear in a special exhibition as well as in the pages of Marie Claire. The idea and the website show that Street Fashion Budapest is closely connected to the MaDok project, which began a number of years ago in the Museum of Ethnography to document the objects of the contemporary world.