In anticipation of Vilnius Fashion Week, the National Museum of Lithuania (LNM) and Lukiškės Prison 2.0 invite you to explore the fashion of ravers. On August 19 at 7:00 p.m., a discussion entitled “Three Stripes and Speed Shades: Club Fashion” will take place in the courtyard of the Lukiškės Prison bar. The event complements the exhibition “RAVE NATION. Dancing to the Sounds of Freedom. 1992–2004”, on view at the Lukiškės Prison complex until October 31 (Lukiškių skg. 6, Vilnius).

Rave was not a business plan

The rave of the 1990s in Lithuania was not a sleek “Instagram filter”. Bright clothing and unusual accessories – from pacifiers to platform shoes – could draw not only hostile stares but also real threats. “That was the reality – if you wanted to express yourself through your looks, you had to be ready to risk your safety,” says “RAVE NATION” co-curator Justė Kostikovaitė. “For the younger generation, rave was not a business plan, but a project of sound, pleasure, and experimentation. It was vibrating, rhythmic freedom, creating its own spaces, its own experiences, and its own fashion codes.”

The August 19 discussion “Three Stripes and Speed Shades: Club Fashion” will explore the history and present of rave style. It will be an opportunity not only to recall the fashions of the 1990s rave generation, but also to reflect on how party styles moved from dark basements to fashion runways and, ultimately, to the shop windows of “Zara”. When does borrowing ideas mean inspiration, and when does it become appropriation? Does techno inspire the designer, or does clothing inspire the raver? How do mechanisms of self-identification work in nightlife – and more broadly – in shaping the image of a “true raver”?

From basement parties to magazine covers

The discussion will bring together creators representing different experiences of fashion. Gitis Bertulis and Kristina Maselskytė – fashion designers who began their careers during Lithuania’s first rave wave in the early 1990s, founders of the “GK” brand and the “Prima” studio, whose works are featured in the “RAVE NATION” exhibition. Deimantė Bulbenkaitė – fashion journalist, author of the “Tendencingai” program on LRT Klasika, co-author of Radio Vilnius show “Puota” and of numerous fashion publications. Edvinas Grinkevičius (Querelle) – cultural projects curator and drag performance artist, who actively incorporates leftist and queer ideas and practices into his work. The discussion will be moderated by “RAVE NATION” consultant and journalist Kotryna Lingienė.

Authentic rave fashion at “RAVE NATION”

Examples of rave fashion can already be seen up close at the LNM exhibition “RAVE NATION. Dancing to the Sounds of Freedom. 1992–2004”, on view in the Lukiškės Prison complex. Visitors will encounter avant-garde clothing from the Kaunas-based “Prima” studio, a stage costume for the band “EXEM” designed by Seržas Gandžiumianas, singer Sati’s unusual stage shoes, the cosmic attire from the party “West in Space”, and many more authentic rave garments and accessories.

Alongside physical objects, the exhibition showcases numerous examples of rave attire captured in period videos, photographs, magazines, archival materials, and artworks. From happy hardcore to house, from Vilnius to Marijampolė, from secret forest gatherings to the most popular city clubs – visitors can discover the fashions of different raver “tribes” and their creative choices.

The LNM exhibition “RAVE NATION. Dancing to the Sounds of Freedom. 1992–2004” runs at the Lukiškės Prison complex (Lukiškių skg. 6, Vilnius) until October 31. Tickets are available via Bilietai.lt.

Curators: Justė Kostikovaitė and Egla Mikalajūnė. Artists: Aistė Radzevičiūtė, Aleks Bunis-Ziog, Bogomir Doringer, Deividas Vytautas Aukščiūnas, Elena Krukonytė, Ervinas Faktura, Julijus Balčikonis, Kala Sound System, Liudmila (Milda Januševičiūtė and Miša Skalskis), Mark Leckey, Miķelis Fišers, Mirjam Wirz, Rineke Dijkstra, Ringailė Demšytė, Robertas Narkus, Tania Mouraud, Tony Cokes, Vegas Šimbelis. Architects: Jurga Marcinauskaitė, Laimis Valančiūnas / 2XJ architects.

The exhibition is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Media partners: LRT OPUS, JCDecaux. Sponsors: Bosch Power Tools, EMP Recycling, IGIS, Knauf, Labas, Medžio bitės, Mex Pro, Mondriaan Fund, ROCKWOOL, Spirit, Videoprojektai. Institutional partners: Vilnius City Municipality, Vilnius Night Office.

Photos by Paulius Žižliauskas