The Polish Cultural Institute in London is launching Chrysalis, a limited edition art book, charting the history and evolution of fashion in Poland from the 1930s to the present day’s new crop of designers making waves on the Polish and international stages.

From Lola Prusac, who designed for Hermès in Paris between the wars, daringly introducing traditional Polish folk designs and creating Mondrian-inspired prints 30 years before Yves Saint-Laurent, to Kasia Skórzynska, a recent fashion graduate from Warsaw’s Katedra Mody who founded the already acclaimed and successful label k a a s k a s, Chrysalis will introduce the designers, photographers, models and fashion icons who shaped Polish fashion over the last 90 years. Beautifully designed by one of Poland’s most exciting artists, Tymek Borowski, and the first publication of its kind in the English language, Chrysalis is being launched alongside an accompanying website www.polishfashionstories.com, which will offer a constantly updated source of information about past and current trends in Polish fashion.

With the intriguing fashions of communist-era Poland currently experiencing something of a renaissance and undergoing a captivating reinterpretation, a new generation of Poles are now beginning to discover these jewels of Polish fashion, which Chrysalis finally offers to the English-speaking public and industry professionals.

The anthology is published by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and supported by Contemporary Lynx magazine and YES, one of Polandʼs best-known exclusive jewellery brands.