“The Wave”, 2006, installation
series of dresses and suits (silk, thread, 10 pieces, dimensions variable)
“The Wave” is the title of a fashion magazine published by the Vilnius Fashion House (VFH) that was popular in the second half of the 20th century. At artist request, Jolanta Talaikytė, the art director of the VFH, created new sketches of casual and evening dresses and suits based on descriptions of former models from the magazine (without being shown the actual models). Two dressmakers of different ages, Natalya and Olya, working privately in Vilnius, made silk dresses and suits for me according to the old and new models. However, old and new are not differentiated in the project, as the differences are not as obvious as they seem at first glance.
“New fashion looks. Some of us are delighted, others indignant, and others are reservedly judgmental. However, one thing is certain: nobody is indifferent to fashion, as it satisfies a fundamental human need for permanent change. Fortunately, radical changes in fashion are few and far between. That is to say, fashion is a certain style of appearance that lasts for five to seven years, and sometimes even for a decade, although each season brings in new features, shades and colours, which keep fashion surprisingly alive.”
Michail Raduta
‘The Current Season’s Trends’
VFH magazine The Wave, 1974-1975, p. 3
“Styles do not change very often, yet fashion, being affected by business, changes every half-year, with the advent of every new trend. Traders and producers have to move, to show something new, and this is the reason for the cycle of rapid change, consisting of autumn-winter and spring-summer seasons. Fashion does not change radically, it is the colours or tonalities that blend each season: if it is a greenish, greyish, reddish season, the next one will be silvery or sombre grey, rifle-green, red, etc.”
Jolanta Talaikytė
VFH, from an interview conducted by the artist in Vilnius, 2007
Photograph by Silke Helmerdig
kristina inčiūraitė 