Space exploration history as a source of stories and images for Russian streetwear fashion

Abstract

The subject of this paper are printed clothing and accessories produced by Russian fashion brands known as streetwear brands in the 2010s - early 2020s and dedicated to space heroes such as Yuri Gagarin and to the history of space exploration. This paper conceptualizes streetwear fashion as a field where popular knowledge about space and the history of its exploration can be manifested and at the same time where such knowledge is popularized or even produced. The paper analyzes the iconography of space developed by Russian streetwear fashion: which heroes and events are the most popular in this field of cultural production, how they are depicted and in which contexts they are embedded. It also compares the iconography of space introduced in this field with the Soviet canon of memory about space exploration and with Soviet iconography of cosmonautics. As my analysis shows, Russian streetwear brands regularly refer to the history of space exploration as a source of ideas and images for their collections, and not only on anniversaries. At the same time, the circle of the most popular heroes and events is quite narrow: these are Yuri Gagarin, the launch of the first Sputnik, and the flight of the two Soviet space dogs, Belka and Strelka. Other people or projects are notably less popular. The transformation of the Soviet canon of commemorated space exploration history is also clearly seen. New types of space iconography appear, and the typology of sources of inspiration is becoming more diverse and includes different kinds of Soviet material culture dedicated to the conquest of space, such as architecture, sculpture and philately.