dior in moscow, 1959.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Google announced last year that previously unseen LIFE images had become available online - one of the sets included photographs taken in Moscow during the Christian Dior collection show in July of 1959 by Howard Sochurek.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

The Soviet Union officially allowed fashion shows in 1959, along with putting an end to the persecution of citizens donning fashionable clothing. Madame Suzanne Lulling, the Head of Dior Salon at the time, recognized the significance of this occasion and was quick to organize a viewing of the collection in Moscow. 11,000 invitations were sent out to the highest members of the Communist party along with the Soviet elite.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

Before the show, three of the twelve Dior models took a stroll through the center of Moscow in order to allow the suppressed people a chance to view the New Look. Howard Sochurek followed the models in order to photograph the clash of fashions - and what an amazing job he did. When studying these photos you can see the severe disconnect between French and Russian cultures. When the event wrapped up, one of the Soviet magazines concluded that "Bourgeois fashion makers come up with such styles that the woman has difficulty walking and must wrap herself around her man." Djurdja Bartlett, a fashion historian and researcher with the London College of Fashion, proposed that the shifting trends personified the times. Traditionally Soviet style was considered to be more practical and humble, therefore superior to Western fashion which was considered to be "impractical, decadent and even unsightly."

Howard Sochurek -LIFE@Time Inc.

http://www.mnweekly.ru/culture/20070511/55245750.html

http://behindthephoto.org/dior-models-in-moscow-july-1959-photos-by-howard-sochurek

http://images.google.com/images?q=dior+moscow&q=source:life