The exhibition “Asnāte Smeltere. Continuity” at the Ola Foundation cultural space reveals not only the life story of one remarkable personality, but also a broader picture of Latvia’s fashion, aesthetics, and cultural identity. Through Asnāte Smeltere’s memories, photographs, garments, and the legacy of the magazine Rīgas Modes, the exhibition portrays an era when fashion in Latvia was an important part of social life - people made their own clothes, followed trends carefully, and sought to maintain elegance in everyday life even under difficult circumstances.
In the interview, Smeltere emphasizes that fashion has always been much more than clothes to her - it is a reflection of a person’s inner world, an era, and society. She recalls working at the Riga Model House at a time when models had to follow strict rules and even undergo ideological screening in order to travel abroad. Yet it was precisely under these circumstances that a special creative environment emerged, in which Latvian fashion stood out for its European elegance, sense of color, and cultural refinement. She says that Riga fashion differed in the context of the Soviet Union through its pronounced sense of style and its ability to combine craft traditions with a modern view of fashion.
The archive of fashion photographer Ilga Sūna also plays an important role in the exhibition, revealing life behind the scenes - tired models on buses, preparations for shows, and everyday humanity. Smeltere particularly emphasizes that the life of a model was not a glamorous fairy tale, but demanding and at times highly emotional work, in which joy alternated with stress and uncertainty.
In the interview, she also takes a critical look at the 1990s after the restoration of independence, believing that Latvia mistakenly abandoned its strong light-industry and design traditions. In her view, crafts, handicrafts, and a sense of aesthetics are among Latvia’s greatest cultural values, still alive both in folk applied art and in contemporary design. Smeltere believes that the Latvian code of beauty - elegance, refinement, and the desire to live in an aesthetically ordered environment - is still alive today.
In a very personal part of the interview, Smeltere talks about her family, the environment of her childhood, and the feeling that fate itself chose her path in life for her. She says she never consciously planned a career in the fashion world - life “took her by the hand” and led her from a modeling house to Salon A and then into creative work. She is currently writing her family history, wishing to preserve memories for future generations and pass on stories about people, elegance, and a way of experiencing life that shape Latvia’s cultural identity.
The exhibition “Asnāte Smeltere. Continuity” is on view at the Ola Foundation art and cultural space until July 4.
Source and read more:
Diena.lv interview “Hand in Hand with Fate”
