Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev had a dream - "to catch up and surpass America". According to the plans of the party and personally the secretary general, by 1971 the USSR had to surpass the United States in terms of total production and per capita output. But agriculture hopelessly pulled down all the indicators. Despite the fact that more than half of the country's population lived in the village, agriculture produced no more than 15% of the gross national product. The bid was made to develop the virgin lands of Kazakhstan and Western Siberia, turning maize into the main agricultural crop and ahead of the US in the number of head of livestock. Even at the February-March Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1954, Khrushchev pointed to corn as the main source of replenishment of the grain shortage in the country and as a culture, thanks to which the "virgin soil" will be raised, that is, the livestock population is sharply increased. And in 1959 Nikita Sergeevich, on a visit to the USA (the historic trip was the first visit of the Soviet leader to the United States in history), visited Iowa in the household of a simple American farmer. Luxury fields of hybrid varieties of corn literally intoxicated the Soviet leader. Even more impressed with pleasure were the corn silage that was eaten by well-fed, milky-glossy American bourenkas, each of which would easily take the first prize at any Soviet agricultural exhibition. Nikita Sergeyevich was battled and decided to defeat the enemy with his own weapon. Returning home, Khrushchev with incredible zeal began to introduce corn into agriculture.
The propaganda machine has earned its full power. Newspapers and magazines, radio and television, numerous posters on the streets, films and even cartoons praised the "queen of the fields" and its priceless properties.
A selection of propaganda posters with the "queen of the fields".
The designer tried to combine high fashion codes and everyday tokens, showing a rethought of office classics
In the collection of Gvasalia graphically reflects one of the main paradoxes of modern fashion: in the context of general recycling of ideas, the past suddenly looks like the future.
Edward Enninful a British fashion stylist is famously known for his edgy elegance, which quickly became his trademark. Much of his inspiration came from the streets. "We British have to customize our clothes, we have to be more creative, informing who you are—and I am still obsessed with the streets."[3] The looks he featured in his stories helped fuel the grunge movement during the early 1990s.
Steven Klein's photo shootings are distinguished by a provocative and dynamic plot, sexual overtones, brightness of colors.
EDITORIALS. ‘SUNDAY BEST.’ W MAGAZINE. IMAGES BY STEVEN KLEIN. STYLING BY EDWARD ENNINFUL.
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Until the early 1950s, corn in the Soviet Union was quite an ordinary agricultural crop. Rather even a secondary, such Cinderella in the world of farming. Wheat or rye is yes, "bread to all the head", without it anywhere. And corn ... And suddenly Cinderella, an agricultural stepdaughter, became not even a princess, but immediately a queen ...
Demna Gvasalia
The Georgian designer first appeared in the spotlight as the leader of the anonymous team Vetements. Impressions in a Chinese restaurant and gay club, negligence of dimensionless sweatshirts, friends of designers on the podium instead of models - the goal of the team was to shake the stiff Paris.
The tactics of Vetements turned out to be scandalously simple and convenient to use: today everyday details serve as an ideal bait for a new generation of haute couture consumers. A leather bag, an exact replica of a blue IKEA economic trunk, or a replica of a white leather package in the latest men's collection of Balenciaga can become one of the main trophies of streetstyle stars, although they will certainly provoke an indignant misunderstanding of the tabloids.
Gosha Rubchinskiy A/W 17
“It’s a portrait of Russia now,” said Rubchinskiy of the monologues and the casting. Each mannequin hailed from somewhere in the federation, from Kaliningrad local to Siberia, thousands of miles to the east. “It’s a real way to show the country to an international audience. Some boys say, ‘I don’t know what to do in my life; I am just chilling and I have fun and I have skateboard.’ Others say, ‘I want to be an army service agent.’ Another says he wants to write a book.” Rubchinskiy’s friend and collaborator on the audio, a Moscow-based DJ named Buttechno, admitted a more ominous testimony: “One boy said he doesn’t want to die before he’s 25.”
If the models represented a cross-section of the country, that’s also a good way to describe the clothes. “We try to put some unexpected parts in, not only cool, streetwear things,” said Rubchinskiy. That was welcome. The designer played with the tailoring he introduced last season by layering it into the sportif kick he was feeling, courtesy of Adidas. The show opened with a loose-sleeved button-down shirt worn with a square-knit tie and skinny-belted trousers—it was about as polished as he has ever done. There was a smart double-breasted gray pin-striped suit, ditto a military-olive shirt and pants, offset with a pale blue cinch. The outerwear options were among the strongest he's offered, and the newsboy caps, by Stephen Jones, were fresh.
Lastly, if one was wondering as to any sort of geopolitical commentary about doing a fashion show in Russia today amid the U.S.’s election-hacking accusations and President-elect Trump’s is-it-or-isn’t-it cozy relationship with Putin, the answer is . . . sort of. When pressed as to his opinion on the matter, Rubchinskiy said: “Look . . . come and see Russia. Not only on the Internet, not only in the paper. See what’s really happening in the cities . . . come and have your own opinion.” And as for his and his peer group’s feelings about Trump? “It’s interesting . . . I like the strong character. He’s a strong character—not a boring, random person. It’s interesting. Let’s see.”
About the new generation in post soviet union countries
More political context
Artek (Cyrillic: Арте́к) is an international children center (a former Young Pioneer camp) on the Black Sea in the town of Hurzuf located on the Crimean Peninsula, near Ayu-Dag. It was established on 16 June 1925. Artek was considered to be a privilege for Soviet children during its existence, as well as for children from other communist countries. During its heyday, 27,000 children a year vacationed at Artek.
I spent almost all my summer holidays in this camp and memory of this period of my life makes my hurt warm. This camp even nowadays has very similar to soviet camps structure. However, that was not very much annoying, it gave us a great experience and it was interesting to discuss how my parents and grandparents went there and what changed though this period(actually not much in some parts of this huge complex)
some of Soviet Union Utopias
- Huge vegetables. Michurinskaya Genetics Contrary to its name, to Michurin this agrarian school had only an indirect relationship. Its author and inspirer was Trofim Denisovich Lysenko, who promised to feed the country in the shortest possible time and shame the "bourgeois" geneticists. "Lysenkovshchina" became a triumph for Soviet propaganda and, as it turned out, a real disaster for science. Lysenko's activities became a model of politicization and, thus, of the profanity of science. In France, the liberal-conservative organization "Club de l'Horloge" established the "Lysenko Prize". This anti-award is awarded to "the author or a person who, through their works or activities, has made exemplary contributions to misinformation in the field of science or history, using ideological methods and arguments ".
- Moon base. In 1974-76, Soviet scientists developed a program for placing a permanently operating laboratory base on the Moon. "Space race", a competition of space technologies of the USSR and the USA, began with the launch of a Soviet satellite and lasted almost twenty years, until the mid-seventies. In the late sixties, one of the most intense and dramatic episodes of her life was played out-the "lunar race".Despite the fact that the Soviet priority for landing a man on the Moon was approved on paper in the year 64 and the landing was planned for the 68th, the Soviet space industry in the late 1960s was disastrously unlucky. Korolev died. Komarov was killed, the first contender for a complex lunar landing. Gagarin fell apart - and there is a theory that Gagarin died not during a training flight on a training aircraft, but a few days earlier on a new spacecraft of the Soviet lunar-flying program 7K-L1. In the 68-m rocket launcher "Proton" exploded at the start. These tragedies and many minor troubles hit the USSR in a short time, not allowing to achieve the set tasks. The result was that on July 21st, 69, Neil Armstrong came to the surface of the Moon as the first human being. To restore the lost positions of the space leader, the Soviet Union had to implement an extraordinary project. Such an ambitious and daring plan was the plan for placing a permanently operating base on the moon with people. "To land and walk on the moon is not a thing, but do not you want to settle on the moon, gentlemen of the capitalists?" - this rhetorical question removed all questions regarding the lunar priority. The design of the Soviet permanent base on the Moon would totally eclipse the success of the Americans. In addition, there is a special substance on the Moon, one of the isotopes of helium, which is not on the Earth and which could be effectively used to create special thermonuclear reactors. And, finally, the lunar expedition would allow carrying out research in the field of planetology, astrophysics, medicine and biology, the production of new materials and gases in the lunar conditions. To implement this idea, a super-heavy-class launch vehicle, known as the Vulcan, was to be created. The "Vulcan" would take 230 tons of payload to the low-Earth orbit, 60 tons of them into the path of flight to the Moon, and 22 tons directly to the surface. "The Vulkan carrier rocket solved practically all the problems of the manned transport operation of flight to Mars. He was not so far away from us, "wrote Boris Ivanovich Gubanov, chief designer of the development in his memoirs. The project of the lunar town was ready in the smallest detail. This settlement even got a name, it was named after one of the founders of Russian cosmonautics and a great admirer of the idea of developing the Moon, Vladimir Pavlovich Barmin - Barmingrad.
- Monkeyman In the second half of the 20-ies under the guidance of Professor Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov
As a biologist with the specialization of artificial insemination, Ivanov became famous even before the revolution, having received many different intraspecific hybrids. He brought out a cross between a zebra and a donkey, a bison and a domestic cow, an antelope and a cow, a mouse and a rat, a mouse and a guinea pig, a guinea pig and a rabbit, a rabbit and a hare, etc. The scientific community expected that it would create new, unprecedented hitherto living beings. After the revolution, his activities acquired special significance. If Ivanov managed to get an animal that did not exist in nature, it would be a trump card for atheistic propaganda, would allow us to assert that the true creators of nature are Soviet scientists. The scientist himself had a purely academic interest in such studies. At this time, Ilya Ivanovich worked in Paris, at the Pasteur Institute. He came very close to the work of his entire life - the removal of a hybrid of man and monkey. He was allowed to use the power of an experimental biological station in Kindia, in Guinea. And, when the professor applied for funding to the Soviet government, he was given a large sum of money for the experiments. The Bolsheviks could not miss the chance to take part in such a triumphant scientific achievement. The boundaries were being erased not only between the rich and the poor, between the private and the public, between the city and the countryside. The boundaries between man and animal were blurred! There is no limit to the power of proletarian science!
This photoshoot caught my eye because of the very interesting mix of real life and fashion model
In the USSR there could not be a cult of wealth, but there was a cult of things. The fetishism of the Soviet citizen contained a wide range of attachments - from flashy carpets to mink hats.
- The carpet in the Soviet apartment carried out several important functions. On the one hand, he symbolized the high social status of the owner of the apartment, on the other - helped to improve the sound and heat insulation of the apartment. The best carpets were Turkmen, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Armenian and Dagestan.
- Spirits in the USSR were not uncommon, women loved good scents and used them in everyday life. But the French perfume "Climat" was considered not only a sign of good taste, but also of high welfare. One bottle of such spirits cost at least 25 rubles, which was about a quarter of the average salary.
- The service of Czech glass was almost in every house, it was only available on holidays. But chic was not considered a Czech crystal on the table, but a chandelier made of Bohemian glass. It was an indicator of the high status of the family, once every six months it was removed and thoroughly washed from dust, and then returned to their original place.
- Vacuum cleaners "Typhoon" enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union. They were incredibly powerful, if such an apparatus was turned on in the apartment, then the TV screen became covered with interference, and the radio began to stutter. If the Typhoon sucked something, then sucked. It is not surprising that vacuum cleaners that have survived to this day are still used for cleaning, but now for construction debris.
- Far from everyone in the USSR. Presence of own car spoke about solvency of the person, and the car mark allowed to define a degree of its income. It's one thing - the owner of "Zaporozhets" or the old "Victory", another - the new "Zhiguli". The most prestigious was to own a foreign car, which they bought from their hands for a lot of money.
- Gold earrings and rings, brooches with precious stones and bracelets were a luxury item. The cost of jewelry was expensive, but at the same time there were in every house - they were saved, they were taken out and eventually handed over by inheritance. At the same time, the service of sawing rings became popular - it was much cheaper than buying a new one on a wider finger.
- In the 80 years of the last century the fashion in the USSR for mink hats began. They were insanely popular, but not everyone could afford it. One such hat could cost almost two average salaries, so there were thieves-hats. They abducted mink hats and resold them. As a result, special rubber bands were sewn to the hats, which did not allow to rip off the headdress and escape.
- Elegant ladies watch "Chaika" was produced in a relatively small edition, it was lucky to get such. Separately, they collected watches with a gold bracelet instead of a strap, and such a small accessory automatically became a testament to the high status of women. Such jewelry could not afford much, the cost of gold watches could reach 700 Soviet rubles.
Avoska or mesh is a colloquial name for a mesh, woven from the harsh threads of a shopping bag, used primarily to visit markets and shops. When folded, the bag takes up very little space, and so it is convenient to take it with you to a purse, a briefcase or a pocket. There is a legend that during the deficit in the Soviet Union people often always carried a string bag with them in case something happened - maybe they could buy something (usually at lunchtime or on their way home from work). In addition, in Soviet stores there were no plastic bags for shopping, and the bag had to be brought with them.