THE PROBLEM OF THE HISTORIZATION OF 20TH CENTURY SERBIAN FASHION 1920-1980

Abstract

The paper covers the history of 20th century Serbian fashion from the 1920s through the 1980s, focusing on the problem of its historization. Based on established readings submitting 20th century Serbian fashion to politics thus distancing it from global fashion history, I aim to structure a possible historical narrative of fashion by identifying the elements of haute couture in 20th century Serbian fashion industry. Rather than contrasting Serbian fashion figures with their Western counterparts and deepening the West / East Europe fashion divide, the paper traces similarities between them, demonstrating that 20th century Serbian fashion responded to haute couture trends simultaneously with their emergence in the West.