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The 28th International Scientific Conference ‘Fashion and Design: Historical Experience, New Technologies’ was held at Ƶ
02 June

St. Petersburg University of Industrial Technologies and Design, the Russian Museum of Ethnography, and the State Hermitage Museum held the 28th International Scientific Conference ‘Fashion and Design: Historical Experience, New Technologies.’

Traditionally, the conference is held during the White Nights in St. Petersburg, where major educational centres and unique museum collections are concentrated. The scientific conference is held in conjunction with visits to specialised classes at exhibitions and in the collections of St. Petersburg's largest museums.




Over 120 participants presented papers covering various areas of scientific knowledge in the theory, history and practice of costume, textile and interior design. These are scientists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, Vologda, Vladivostok (Russky Island), Yekaterinburg, Ivanovo, Kargopol, Orel, Pyatigorsk, Rostov-on-Don, Ryazan, Samara, Stary Oskol, Taganrog, Tolyatti, Shuya, as well as from the republics of the Russian Federation: Tatarstan (Kazan), Adygea (Maykop), Mari El (Yoshkar-Ola). Colleagues from Austria (Vienna), Azerbaijan, Belarus (Minsk), Bulgaria (Sofia), Hungary (Budapest), Iran, China, and Moldova (Gagauzia) joined the conference.

Svetlana Vankovich, one of the ideologists of the Fashion and Design conference, director of the Institute of Design and Arts at Ƶ, and head of the Department of Art History and Theory, spoke about the results:

‘The conference ‘Fashion and Design: Historical Experience, New Technologies’ is being held in St. Petersburg at our university, the Hermitage, and the Ethnographic Museum for the twenty-eighth time, and very soon this scientific event will cross the thirty-year mark. Over the past years, the conference has developed its main scientific directions and current issues. Traditionally, research related to the study of historical and contemporary costume occupies a special place. Every year, we see an increase in the number of specialists focusing on the topics of reconstruction and restoration of historical costume, including digital reconstruction, which can be distinguished as a separate genre. Topics related to the history of dolls and mannequins remain relevant, and a large number of authors are conducting scientific research in the field of costume design and fashion theory, substantiating the concepts of new aesthetics in the development of material and artistic culture. And, of course, works devoted to teaching methods in the professional training of designers and art historians deserve special attention. This is very important, as the number of exhibition venues in Russia is increasing every year, and our graduates will need to oversee the exhibition process in both new and traditional formats. They must not only be immersed in the historical aspects of fashion, but also understand exhibition design as a contemporary museum project.



Over the course of four days, in addition to thematic sessions, conference participants and guests visited new exhibitions at the State Hermitage Restoration and Conservation Centre, watched a fashion show by St. Petersburg designer Lilia Kiseleva, and got acquainted with the treasures of a special storeroom at the Russian Museum of Ethnography.

The largest number of authors presented papers in the following sections:

‘Traditional Costumes of the Peoples of Russia and Neighbouring Countries,’ ‘Textile Traditions and New Technologies,’ ‘Mass Culture in the Information Society,’ and ‘Costume in Historical Perspective.’ In addition, a significant number of reports were devoted to the topics of ‘Dolls and Mannequins: History and Modernity,’ ‘Reconstruction and Restoration of Historical Costumes,’ ‘Teaching Methods in the Professional Training of Designers,’ and ‘Decorative Interior Design in the Context of the Artistic Environment.’ The conference organising committee's proposed topics, such as ‘Costume design and fashion in the context of new aesthetics’ and ‘Exoticism in contemporary fashion,’ have not yet received the expected response.

Over the course of four days, conference participants presented their research at plenary and thematic sessions and took part in a round table discussion on ‘The Cross Motif in Contemporary Fashion Design,’ timed to coincide with the opening of the exhibition ‘Crosswise,’ which was accompanied by a demonstration of clothing and jewellery by the fashion house of designer Lilia Kiseleko.

The classes announced this year at the exhibitions ‘Packed Dreams. Art Deco Fashion from the State Hermitage Museum and Nazim Mustafayev's Collection’ and ‘Treasures of the Special Storage Room’ at the Russian Museum of Ethnography also attracted great interest.