Staunton, January 5 – Many Russians
have been alarmed by the increasing use of the hijab by their fellow citizens
who are Muslims, but they may soon face a larger, albeit for the time being
more diffuse challenge: ever more non-Russians in that country are adding
traditional ethnic elements and patterns to their daily dress.
In an article yesterday entitled “A
Return to Roots: How Udmurt Dress has Become Fashionable,” Yuliya Karavayeva
describes how fashion designers in that Finno-Ugric republic are drawing on elements
of traditional dress in their new designs and thus helping to keep alive
national identity there (nazaccent.ru/content/14422-vozvrashenie-k-kornyam.html).
“The complex traditional costume” of
the Udmurts, she writes, one “rich in interesting details is inspiring with
each passing year ever more contemporary designers,” even though as the leader
of this movement, Lyudmila Molchanova who teaches design at Udmurt State
University says, “it is quite difficult to include tradition in contemporary
fashion.”
But interest in the national roots
of the Udmurts is now so great, Molchanova points out, that young designers are
ever more eager to do so not only to attract attention to their own work but to
meet the demand for ethnically branded clothing.
Two of Molchanova’s students,
Karavayeva reports, have become particularly adept at introducing elements from
traditional costumes into modern dress, not only for those who want it for
special occasions but also for those who want to manifest their national
identity on a daily basis.
The first, Vera Kuznetsova,
carefully studies the ethnography of her people and then considers what
elements can be introduced from the past into what contemporaries will be able
to wear. She has launched several
collections which have attracted attention not only in Udmurtia but in other
Finno-Ugric republics and beyond.
The second, Polina Kubista, who
takes her name from the Udmurt word for “cabbage” as a tribute to the way her
clothing line features layers upon layers of colors, fabrics and meanings, also
has had international success, again because she has rooted herself in a
national tradition which has clear rules about colors and patterns.
Karavayeva notes that Kubista not
only uses only Udmurt materials but insists that those working on her dresses
be in a good mood when they are doing so because, according to Udmurt
tradition, the feelings of those who make a dress will be passed on to those
who wear it. If any of her workers comes in angry, she sends them home.
A third designer who has attracted
attention in Udmurtia is Ruslana Ulmo, herself a Mari but with long experience
in Udmurtia. She won international attention for her traditional designs as a
result of a photo shoot in Paris. Ulmo believes that her Mari roots have made
her especially sensitive to the differences as well as the similarities among
Finno-Ugric peoples.
All four of these women designers
say that it is critically important that those combining tradition with modern
fashion do so only after recognizing the importance of good quality materials
and the significance of symbols. Failing to do so, they say, is not only a false
pursuit of glamor but is very “dangerous” given the power of the symbols.
According to the Nazaccent.ru
journalist, “the most ancient and at the same time the most fashionable in present-day
Udmurt fashions are designs” which use coins or elements made out of
coins. From ancient times, she writes,
coins as a form of adornment have retained their “defensive function.”
“The brighter the money [in such
jewelry] shines,” Karavayeva says, “the louder it sounds, the more reliably it
defends those who wear it and protects the bearer from evil spirits” – and quite
possibly against the loss of ethnic identity as well.
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