'Sibylle': the East German version of 'Vogue' magazine

Known as the "East German Vogue," the fashion magazine "Sibylle" was characterized at its beginnings by covers with strong contrasting colors. The idea of the bimonthly publication was to promote feminine elegance and fashion without any political references. But by the late 1960s and in the 1980s, the magazine did not always conform to the values of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The photos from the early 1960s usually featured models in static poses, shot in studio. The designs featured in the magazine could not be bought in East Germany. Instead, it provided sewing patterns for the clothes, allowing women to reproduce the blouses and skirts themselves. In West Germany, the magazine "Burda," based on this concept as well, had already gained popularity in the 1950s.

The style of the magazine changed in 1962 with photographer Arno Fischer, who was a professor at the Weissensee Academy of Art in Berlin. Models were photographed in more natural, everyday contexts — shown for instance walking around the streets of Berlin or, as above, sitting on a bench of a U-Bahn station.

Fashion photography and everyday photographic observations were increasingly combined in the magazine through a growing number of features from Eastern Europe. Moscow played a major role as a "fashion metropolis."

In the 1970s, when economic success failed to materialize, the mood started changing in East Germany. The magazine featured workers' culture more prominently in its pages. Western fashion publications were no longer an inspiration to follow. The models' graceful poses of the early years of "Sibylle" were replaced by photos of women at work, contributing to building a new society.

"These two overalls are conceived as simple leisurewear. The design on the left features casual details, such as quilted pockets with inlaid creases, underarm flaps and a tunnel belt." These pages of "Sibylle" are from 1977. The model on the right wears overalls designed by the GDR Fashion Institute.

The East German economy did not pick up afterwards, but the early 1980s were nevertheless good years for "Sibylle," which offered with its aesthetic photos a welcome distraction to its readers. The works by photographer Ute Mahler notably focused more on individualized style than fashion.

The aesthetics of the magazine noticeably changed in the 1980s, with the models radiating provocative coolness and adopting increasingly distanced poses. International trends, such as the English model Twiggy or outfits inspired by hippie and pop culture, were once again influential.

This 1986 edition of the magazine promised new colors and forms in fashion; in politics, those new forms would come a few years later. The Berlin Wall came down in the fall of 1989, and there were also political conflicts within the magazine's editorial department. In reunified Germany, "Sibylle" lost its exotic status and went bankrupt in 1995.