Swedish Fashion 1930–1960
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!"## $%#&'()('*''+, - -. ", $* " # (/0' (/1'# " * - * # *#2&345 6 -# - * & " -7 * *% (/$'* 0" # # * # "89* "- * 4 * " " : *% * # # " # (/0' (/1'- #"* &'() 6;;* #*;"<=6#666 "(4$4&> .?/)>/()14//&0> .?/)>/()14//&4$ ! " #$ % !"-(($/0 SWEDISH FASHION 1930–1960 Ulrika Kyaga Swedish Fashion 1930–1960 Rethinking the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry Ulrika Kyaga ©Ulrika Kyaga, Stockholm University 2017 ISBN print 978-91-7649-923-8 ISBN PDF 978-91-7649-924-5 Cover illustration: "Béves vårkollektion," Bonniers månadstidning, no 2, 1948, 38 Printed by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2017 Distributor: Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University To my beloved husband, Simon, and our children, Isaac and Esther Editor’s introduction Ulrika Kyaga’s doctoral thesis, Swedish Fashion 1930−1960: Rethinking the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry, is the fifth thesis published by the Centre for Fashion Studies in its Stockholm Fashion Studies series. The Centre for Fashion Studies was founded in 2006 with a generous donation from the Familjen Erling-Persson Foundation, launching fashion studies as an academic field in Scandinavia. The Centre, from the very start a research institute at the Humanities Faculty of Stockholm University, has a Ph.D. programme and an international MA programme. The MA programme was launched in 2006, and the first Ph.D. students were admitted in 2008. The sheer demand for undergraduate courses in fashion studies prompted the Centre to offer an introductory course in 2006 and 2007, which in 2008 was expanded into a one-year introductory programme with a BA dissertation module. Each year some 160 students are admitted to the undergraduate level as well as the BA and MA programmes, following a highly competitive process. The Centre for Fashion Studies has established fashion studies as an interdisciplinary field in Scandinavia, recruiting faculty members, teaching staff, and visiting researchers from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including economic history, film studies, literature, art history and business and economics. The Centre has equally sought to develop a distinct intellectual profile by combining theoretical perspectives with object based studies, pursuing a close interest in critical textual analysis, fabrics and visual representations of garments. In this regard, the Centre is almost unique in being university based with a broad range of academic expertise. Since its inception the Centre for Fashion Studies has been home to many different fields of research and teaching in both the humanities and the social sciences, attracting scholars and students from across the world. Its community outreach is also exemplary, while besides its agreements with universities and fashion schools abroad, the Centre has participated in several collaborative projects with museums both in Sweden and abroad. Professor Klas Nyberg The Centre for Fashion Studies, Stockholm Acknowledgements After ten years in business, applying for a doctoral position in fashion studies and changing a career in PR for the world of academia was a big decision to make. Being a PhD student and translating my extensive practical experience of fashion industry into academic knowledge has been a privilege and pleasure, as well as a challenge. Writing a PhD thesis is a long and laborious, yet very fulfilling, process with many people involved, and I thank you all for your kind efforts. I extend my greatest thanks to my supervisors: Professor Klas Nyberg, my main supervisor, who with great dedication has introduced me to the broad field of historical research and encouraged me to combine statistical data and fashion press analysis in this monograph; and Professor Caroline Evans, my co- supervisor, who has guided me through the international demands of academia, and helped me to avoid getting lost in translation. Your support and your in-depth knowledge of the field of fashion studies have been essential to this work. I also wish to mention the discussants of my final seminar, Dr Viveka Torell and the committee, Professor John Sundholm and Dr Kristina Jerner Widestedt, for their careful reading of the manuscript. Their constructive opinions helped me greatly to complete the work of the thesis. At the Centre for Fashion Studies at Stockholm University, many thanks are due to the staff and PhD students for your stimulating discussions, support and all the ‘fika’ and mingle. I thank the Erling-Persson Family Foundation for the generous donation to the centre and Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation for travel grants, which have contributed to this research and its dissemination. My gratitude is also owed to Soïzic Pfaff at the Christian Dior Archives in Paris for your hospitality. You and your team, Perrine Scherrer and Solène Auréal, welcomed me with great kindness, guiding me through the materials and helping in every way possible to trace the historical links between Paris and Stockholm. For years, Professor Lou Taylor at the University of Brighton has provided encouragement and curiosity in my findings on the period during World War II. Always generous with feedback, your curiosity has been a significant source of inspiration. Many people have encouraged this study by providing opportunities for me in various projects, to come and present my work and contribute with articles related to my research topic. I am grateful to you all. Anne-Marie Dahlberg at the Royal Armoury, Pär Engsheden at Beckmans College of Design, Ewa Kumlin at Svensk Form, and Elsebeth Welander-Berggren at Sven-Harry’s Art Museum. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Lena Patriksson Keller for giving me the opportunity to work for the Swedish fashion industry (before I entered the PhD programme) and experience the logic of fashion and the unwritten laws of taste judgements. A special thanks goes to Ingrid Giertz-Mårtenson for your endless commitment to fashion studies. You have paid great interest in my research topic and supported me from the start. Ingrid and I have, over the years, collaborated on numerous occasions, and I am so glad and thankful for being introduced to so many brilliant people and projects. I have enjoyed our discussions on the international fashion scene in general, and in particular Swedish fashion and its cultural heritage. Lastly, I would like to thank my encouraging family, my mother and brothers and their families, as well as the Kyaga family who have always been there for me. This thesis is dedicated to my dear husband, Simon and our children Isaac and Esther, for your patience, love and support. You have shown me what really matters, and being with you makes my life feeling complete! Stockholm, June 2017 Ulrika Kyaga Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 25 Objectives and Research Questions ............................................................................ 26 Fashion: Embracing both Material and Symbolic Production and the Production of National Fashion ........................................................................................................... 28 Material Production: The Actual Manufacture of Clothing ....................................... 29 Symbolic Production: The Production of Meaning .................................................. 31 Fashion and Nationalism ......................................................................................... 35 Thesis Structure ........................................................................................................... 40 Theoretical Framework and Concepts .......................................................................... 40 Clothing Production: Industry Key Ratios ................................................................ 41 Symbolic Production: The Field of Fashion ............................................................. 42 Fashion and Nationalism: National Identity and the ‘Imagined Communities’ ........ 47 Methodology and Empirical Material ............................................................................ 50 Selection of the Empirical Material .......................................................................... 51 Official Statistics ................................................................................................ 51 The Fashion Press ............................................................................................. 53 Government Investigations and Industry Reports .............................................. 57 Government Information Pamphlets .................................................................. 58 Original Designs (Original Press Sketches and Press Images) ......................... 58 Other Materials .................................................................................................. 59 Research Methods .................................................................................................. 60 Systematic Analysis of Official Statistics ........................................................... 60 Close Reading of the Fashion Press ................................................................. 61 Terminology .................................................................................................................. 64 2. Clothing Production: