Wednesday, February 19

Fashion as a way to preserve the craft heritage and the interaction of cultures

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Nadezhda Olegovna Kuznetsova took part in the meeting of the International Discussion Club “VISION 3000”, the agenda of which was the topic: “Cultural dialogue between the peoples of Russia and friendly countries”. The author and head of the High Crafts of Russia project, Member of the Committee for the Development of Creative Industries of the Moscow regional branch of the Support of Russia, representative for work with regions of the Association of Representatives of Fashion, Style and Beauty (AFBI).

Фотография Московский дом национальностей

Nadezhda Olegovna highlighted the topic: “Fashion as a way to preserve the craft heritage and the interaction of cultures.”

Craft is a multifaceted concept from my point of view. And it was born as a system of creating comfort for a person – what to keep warm with (clothes), what to sit on (furniture), what to eat from (dishes) and so on.

I think that the process of development of arts and crafts took place precisely as the convenience of objects for improving life developed. That is, the development of design. But things would have remained purely universal if it weren’t for the creative nature of man – how he differs from other species living on Earth. To see the beautiful, to own this beautiful, to create this beautiful, is not given to everyone and it has not changed in people. This is the value of applied art.

As trade routes and travel developed, people began to exchange information, began to see things that they could not come up with themselves, but someone else came up with in another area. After all, people have different physical needs in different regions, depending on the climate, nature, food, etc. But some things turn out to be universal, useful and convenient everywhere, so there is a natural selection of things that improve with time and the development of technological progress.

And some things surprise with their beauty, and I think that where the decor served utilitarianism – as the language of ornament in carpets, fabrics and ceramics, which carries the same cultural code as the most comfortable form of clothing – is essentially the same thing – trousers, skirt (winding around the body), sleeves , a scarf (wrapped around the neck and head), all this is a human code. There lies the secret of fashion, how to preserve cultural identity and at the same time the interaction of cultures.

Of course, there are experiments in fashion where clothes do not match the body, but they do not live longer than one collection, mind you.

At all times, there have been influencers in fashion – people who are progressive for their place and time, who came from other countries (whether they returned home or foreigners) – they have always attracted attention. It was from them that the society learned about new products and techniques.

It is precisely those things that carry the code of place and time in one way or another that attract and become fashionable, but the most understandable ways of applying these codes to things (clothes and household items) are these are craft techniques – embroidery, sewing method, painting, pressing, carving, etc.

At all times, people have been interested in both the past and the future, dreaming of a time machine.

So, the preservation of ancient craft techniques and skills to handle certain materials gives us the opportunity to travel through time and space.

Of course, there are new technologies, for example, AI, which everyone is talking about, but the majority of people still understand that AI can only do what a person puts there. Given that users of these technologies live all over the world, I will be interested in what will be inside the AI databases. And because a person is lazy, he will take what he sees. And he will apply it to what is convenient for him.

There are basic things in clothes without which there is no way – the same jeans, T–shirts, shirts, etc. But jeans are a universal base that will tolerate everything from a rough Pomeranian sweater to a satin corset. And only the free handling of craft techniques makes it possible to preserve them .

It is good that our NHP enterprises jealously follow the tradition of technology, preserving these techniques, but only those who will be able to keep the language of their codes moving forward through free handling of form and interaction with modern fashion will survive.

This is a real way to preserve identity using cutting-edge technology. Such a task is to integrate traditional craft technologies and ancient cultural codes “prescribed” in national ornaments into new collections of designers and my project “High Crafts of Russia” sets itself. Thus, the interaction of cultures takes place not only in space, but also in time.

 

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