During the post-war years, fashion was a major factor in the recovery of Poland. Polish seamstresses created elegant dresses to suit the population, especially women, from old curtains and clothes. According to the author, those were the beginnings of Moda Polska, known especially for figures like Jadwiga Grabowska and Barbara Hoff, as well as for its difficult relationship with Soviet fashion and for establishing contacts with French international fashion houses. The author argues that Polish fashion became a strong identity factor during the phase in which Moscow tried to replace the previous and deep-rooted national identities of the new Communist states with Soviet cultural and political models.
