The discoveries of new lands, establishing the colonies and the activities of East India Companies caused the development of East–West trade and in consequence new styles of fashion. In the 18th and 19th centuries the fascination with the East in Europe caused the appearance of the new styles of fashion, as well as decorations of textiles and dress. Among the new trends, chinoiserie and japonism were the strongest trends among the artists and tailors. In the paper, the Author discusses the fashion trends in the Far Eastern Harbin in the first half of the 20th century.

The city of Harbin was built in the first decade of that century and its early inhabitants were the builders of the Chinese Eastern Railway constructed by the Russian government in Manchuria. Like Shanghai (‘The Paris of the East’) Harbin was an exterritorial enclave inhabited mainly by Russians and people of Russian Empire (Poles above all), but also with Italians, Frenchmen and other European nationalities. The city had strong trade connections with all European countries, particularly after the Bolshevik revolution when thousands of people migrated and settled there. The Russian community in Harbin was dominated and established close cultural contacts with Paris, the strongest refugee center outside Russia. Hence, the great influence of the Paris fashion enriched with many Chinese and oriental elements is noticeable in the dress of Harbin inhabitants before the Second World War.