Antonija bucic

The materials for creating the collection, which led to the very idea of the collection, were gathered from the group "Sharing is caring." Among the collected materials and clothing items, there was a large number of hand-crocheted textiles such as tablecloths, curtains, doilies and as well as unused and discarded textiles intended for sewing. Research on dating such items and handicrafts can be most closely associated with the late eighties and nineties, as indicated by numerous examples from the magazine "Svijet," which at that time showcased modern and luxurious women's clothing with patterns in the same issue, which women could then make.
The collection questions where the once highly popular crocheting disappeared to, which was almost a part of every household in the former Yugoslavia. It was undoubtedly popular and in fashion at that time. Can such and similar discarded, "ugly," and outdated items and fabrics be transformed into something new and modern?

The collection explores the fashion scene in Croatia from 1926 to 2022. Researching magazines that first appeared in our region, addressing fashion, women, the feminist movement, and bringing the latest global trends to the domestic scene and the former Yugoslav territories, the magazines "Svijet," as well as the progressive magazines of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Ženski svijet," and "Žena danas," stand out.
The first issue of the Svijet magazine, also dubbed the Vanity Fair of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was released in 1926. During the interwar period in Zagreb, it offered its readers a plethora of fashion advice, from global trends and modern clothing to the latest hairstyles and entertainment. The magazine was edited and illustrated by the famous Zagreb artist, graphic designer, and portraitist Otto Antonini. Women embraced the Art Deco style, and Svijet achieved success.
From 1954 to 1961, the magazine became recognizable for the covers illustrated by Aleksandar Srnec, featuring a central, modern, and luxuriously dressed female figure against a background of abstract/geometric forms.
Fashion journalist Magda Weltrusky joined Svijet magazine in 1956 and worked there until her retirement in the nineties. Reflecting on her beginnings, she mentioned an era when fashion, often labeled as "harmful Western influence," timidly paved its way into the media and market. In that regard, Svijet was a true pioneer of avant-garde tendencies.
In the nineties, a growing number of stores of international brands, including Benetton, opened in Zagreb. This meant that customers no longer had to travel abroad for shopping, such as going to Trieste. However, not everyone was thrilled with the transitional fashion processes of the nineties. Numerous letters from readers emphasized that they couldn't afford such fashion and suggested focusing on acceptable, utilitarian, practical, and everyday items in fashion features. Readers expressed being passive observers of Svijet, similar to Cosmopolitan or Vogue, but not active participants.
The question arises: Who were these readers? For whom was fashion served in famous magazines, for the "small number of women" in Croatia who could afford such fashion? Is this situation still relevant today, when the entire spectrum of fashion is available in the form of exclusive/avant-garde/haute couture fashion, as well as mainstream fashion? Although there are no major luxury houses in Croatia, such fashion is accessible online.
Cities are filled with shopping centers, mainstream fashion is easily and widely available, so what happened? Buyers no longer go to Trieste for clothes; since the nineties, Trieste has come to us, even too much. We ended up with a pile of textile and fashion waste, and the fashion scene transformed from scarcity to enormity. We respond by buying second-hand clothes, going to flea markets, donating, altering, recycling, and redesigning.
Our grandmothers, mothers, and neighbors longed for the fashion that was served to us on a silver platter. While they knitted, crocheted, and did handicrafts out of necessity and to look aesthetically pleasing and well-groomed, today's younger generations buy desired items with just one click.
While it seems that the textile and fashion industry has collapsed on the domestic scene due to the absence of major factories, in reality, the textile and fashion scene has been devoured here. Large megalomaniacal companies have arrived, and the need for any kind of fashion has disappeared—it is more accessible than ever. No one longs for the fashion served in magazines anymore; they yearn for the world and what such fashion has done. We are in a new transition. Although there is no major industry, smaller workshops, independent and artisanal work still exist—what fashion enthusiasts want—smaller series, something different, and more authentic.
Fashion transforms into something entirely new; it slows down and requires us to think about it, not to hate it. Fashion demands new solutions from us, questions our thoughts, and leads us to the conclusion: Fashion is eternal; as long as there is a world, there will be fashion.
The women's collection "Not Your Grandmother's Lace" consists of garments emphasizing the revitalization of handcrafted textile techniques, such as crocheted textiles like tablecloths and curtains. It is inspired by the abstract/geometric forms of Svijet magazine covers, merging haute couture with everyday/utilitarian fashion to highlight the utopian period of readers' fantasies about fashion and the reality of the interwar period in the former Yugoslavia. Using materials collected from the "Sharing is Caring" group and family heirlooms, the collection engages with the global problem and impact of fast fashion, transforming it into something new through recycling, redesign, and repurposing.