Olha Korniienko

Olha Korniienko

Independent Scholar, Head of the Ukrainian Fashion History Digital Archive
Olha Korniienko
Title of Research

Soviet Ukrainian Fashion During the Cold War

Abstract

My main purpose is to write a monograph entitled “Soviet Ukrainian Fashion During the Cold War.” It will be based on my thesis and over ten years of experience on the research topic. I will use a wide range of sources, including archival documents, interviews, and periodicals. The monograph will contain sections on the role of fashion during the Cold War in general, Soviet and Western discourse on fashion, the concept of Soviet fashion, fashion in state policy and ideology of the Ukrainian SSR, the structure and functioning of Ukrainian fashion houses, attempts to cooperate in the field of fashion with such capitalist countries as the USA, France, and Italy, features of organizing fashion business trips abroad and their course, ways of presenting fashion and its impact on everyday life, official and illegal channels of fashion penetration, as well as periodicals as a tool to influence fashion and everyday life of Soviet society. In the United States, I will write important chapters about American discourse in Soviet Ukrainian fashion, cross-cultural Soviet-American relations during the Cold War, the Ukrainian diaspora that emigrated during the Soviet period, as well as subcultures, including dudes and hippies. Furthermore, I plan to publish a separate course on this subject for Ukrainian students that would help a better understanding of the ongoing cultural processes and realities on both sides.

Biography

Olha Korniienko recently graduated with her Ph.D. in History at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. She studies the international history of material culture in the second half of the twentieth century with a focus on the history of fashion in the Ukrainian SSR.  Using quantitative and qualitative methods, she studies Soviet Ukrainian fashion in the context of ideology and everyday life in the 1940s-1980s. Her research results are presented in 19 scientific publications and 20 international conferences. She also has experience organizing fashion exhibitions.

Contact Information

At HURI October 2022 – January 2023

Fields of Expertise