How does war impact basic stylistic guidelines? How did WWII impact fashion design?
Earlier, I spoke about belonging, and about our innate need to know and be known. One of the ways in which we express our belonging is through style, through fashion. Stylistic and social identification go hand in hand-- when we join, or are born into a social group, we learn what acceptable styles are. In other words, we learn to adapt our stylistic expression to our social environment. This does not mean we end up all looking the same. It rather means that are some basic guidelines as to what is permissible. There is, in other words, a fair amount of space for each one of us to find our own unique style within these guidelines. Yet in war situations, this might change. During a war, the "basic stylistic guidelines" might be tightened to heighten nationalistic feelings.
Claus Jahnke, a member of a society who collects historic German and Austrian clothing, gives an example. He says that in the 1930s, the German fashion industry was entirely "Aryanized." The Nazi's introduced, for example, a special label to indicate that "Aryan hands only" had manufactured that particular garment.
The Vancouver Courier quotes Jahnke:
"That Aryanization excluded a large part of the garment trade which was 50 per cent Jewish-owned at the time." The 44-year-old stresses that fashion does not respect borders, gender, politics or love. Jahnke, who has collected clothing for almost 30 years says in The Vancouver Courier: "people assume clothing is a frivolous subject but it's not. It shows the politics and the effects of countercultures. Sports wear is now fashionable, just like piercing and tattoos."
Much of Jahnke's collection comes from leading Jewish-owned couture houses in Berlin and Vienna. The Nazi's closed these fashion houses during the Second World War. Much of the garments were destroyed. This makes Jahnke's collection all the more significant and it attracts visitors from around the world.
Jahnke is motivated by a deep-felt desire to teach the public about the history of fashion and textiles. He, together with a few kindred spirits, presents often sold-out lectures in which they explore trends in clothing and jewelry of the past. For Jahnke, the collection, and the topic of fashion, are a means to talk about conflict resolution and peace. The clothing makes the issue concrete, real, and makes it easier for people to relate to the topic.
One of the ways in which he used his collection as a means to work toward reconciliation was through an exhibit at The Vancouver Holocaust Centre called Broken Threads: The Destruction of The Jewish Fashion Industry in Germany and Austria.
Based on this exhibit, a new book will appear in the fall of this year. The book will have the same title as Jahnke's exhibit: Broken Threads
This book, Broken Threads tells the story of the destruction of the Jewish fashion industry under the Nazis.
The book, in line with Jahnke's work, will chronicle Jewish fashion design and its destruction at the hands of the Nazis. Illustrated with ample photographs and fashion plates from the Jahnke's collection, Broken Threads explores this little-known yet fascinating part of fashion and of Nazi history.
The perspectives offered by Claus Jahnke are piercing, moving and well worth considering.
