RetrOpatija 2026 at Gervais: Dress Up Corner brings three days of retro fashion, design and makeovers
From 25 to 27 June 2026, Opatija will once again live to the rhythm of RetrOpatija, an event that, according to the programme of the Tourist Board of the City of Opatija, transforms the city into a large stage dedicated to the music, fashion, popular culture and everyday life of the 20th century. One of the central programmes of this year’s edition will be the Dress Up Corner at the Gervais Centre, conceived as a special retro fashion zone where vintage clothing, design, antiques, hairdressing and make-up services, styling and conversations about fashion come together. According to official information from Visit Opatija, the Dress Up Corner programme will take place on Thursday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Saturday in two time slots, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. For visitors coming to Opatija for the three-day programme, accommodation offers in Opatija may also be useful, especially because of RetrOpatija’s Saturday evening programme and the announced temporary traffic regulation.
This year, Dress Up Corner is shaping itself as content that goes beyond the classic exhibition-and-sales format. The organizers present it as a place where visitors can find a garment, fashion accessory or object with a history, but also receive a complete retro look with a hairstyle, make-up and advice from a stylist. The programme places emphasis on authenticity and creativity, but also on sustainable fashion, because the vintage and second hand offer naturally opens up space for the reuse of clothing, slower consumption and a different relationship toward objects that have already had their own life. In this way, the fashion part of RetrOpatija fits into a broader trend in which nostalgia is used not only as decoration, but also as a starting point for a conversation about design, consumption, personal style and the preservation of material culture.
Gervais as the centre of fashion transformation
The Gervais Centre, where the Dress Up Corner will be held, is located at a site that, according to Festival Opatija data, has been connected with culture since the beginnings of Opatija’s tourism history. In the 19th century, a hall for musical events was built in that area, followed by a theatre and cinema, while the contemporary Gervais Centre opened in 2017. Placing the Dress Up Corner precisely in this space gives the programme additional context: fashion, music, hairstyles, make-up, design and everyday objects are viewed as part of cultural memory, and not merely as an entertaining addition to the festival. In that sense, Gervais becomes a kind of wardrobe for the entire event, a place where visitors can prepare for evening performances, photo sessions, dance programmes and the city’s retro atmosphere.
According to the published programme, Dress Up Corner brings together more than 20 exhibitors and creatives of different profiles. Visitors will have access to antiques, vintage and second hand clothing, jewellery, handbags, hats, fashion accessories, handmade items, retro hairstyles and make-up services. The official programme specifically lists hairdressing services on Thursday and Friday, make-up artists on Friday and Saturday, and the free service of fashion stylist Nika Širola on Saturday. Such a schedule allows the Dress Up Corner to be used as practical preparation for a festival night out, but also as a daytime programme for visitors who want to browse the offer, talk with exhibitors or find a single detail that will change an entire outfit.
Retro House brings objects with a story
A particularly prominent place in the programme belongs to Retro House by Igor Recek Gangster, whose offer is based on antiques and objects from different periods of the 20th century. According to the Dress Up Corner programme, among the items to be presented are a restored barber’s chair by the Italian manufacturer Pieragnolo from 1951, vintage swimsuits from the fifties and eighties, collections of women’s gloves, handbags and hats, cosmetic items, mirrors, hairbrushes, original posters, memorabilia and pieces of retro furniture. Part of this offer is interesting not only to collectors, but also to visitors who want to see how aesthetics, materials and everyday habits changed over the decades.
The value of such objects is not exclusively market-based. A barber’s chair, gloves, a film poster or an old handbag function as traces of former rituals of dressing, going out, decorating the home and presenting oneself publicly. In a festival environment, such objects can easily be viewed as scenography, but the Dress Up Corner also tries to bring them closer as part of the real history of everyday life. That is precisely why the programme is arranged so that a visitor can shop, browse, talk with exhibitors and create their own interpretation of retro style at the same time. Such an approach gives dressing a broader cultural framework, because it does not start from copying a single decade, but from combining personal taste with elements of past times.
From pin-up make-up to sustainable fashion
The official list of exhibitors shows that the Dress Up Corner will encompass very different fashion and beauty approaches. Beauty Atelier Mia will present retro make-up, with an emphasis on pin-up aesthetics, eyeliner lines and red lipstick, while Ivona Obrić’s salon will offer make-up styles adapted to personal wishes and the historical decades that visitors want to interpret. The Chairlotte hair salon has been announced with retro hairstyles inspired by the past century, among which vintage waves, pin-up hairstyles and elegant buns stand out, while the AntifriZz Hair Studio from Lovran will present hairstyles inspired by the seventies, eighties and nineties. In this way, the beauty part of the programme relies on recognizable visual codes, but adapts them to the contemporary visitor and individual style.
The fashion part of the programme particularly emphasizes sustainability and the reuse of clothing. According to information from Visit Opatija, Dobra roba brings a collection of vintage clothing and fashion accessories, from older true vintage pieces to fashion from the beginning of the 21st century, while Vintage Wave presents hand-picked garments and fashion accessories from the period from the fifties to the nineties. London Second Hand has been announced with leather jackets, coats, bags, retro scarves, dresses, shirts, skirts and tracksuits from the eighties, and Mango Sticky Rice bases its offer on carefully selected vintage clothing, fashion accessories, books and artworks. In this part, the Dress Up Corner connects with slow fashion and smarter shopping, which will be further developed in the talks programme.
Alongside clothing and beauty services, visitors can also expect design in a broader sense. Minerva, the original statement jewellery brand by Jelena Fogec, according to the official programme, brings handmade jewellery made of metal, crystals and semi-precious stones, including a collection inspired by old Opatija and Kvarner. Vibela Design will present handmade retro and vintage fashion inspired by the forties, fifties and sixties, often made from rescued or reused materials. BoodyWoody Handmade brings hand-painted wooden jewellery and decorative items inspired by retro aesthetics, while Marinush presents itself with clothing made from organic cotton and a socially responsible production approach. In this way, the programme combines a nostalgic look with current topics of ethical production, local design and the preservation of craft skills.
Hidden Speakeasy Bar brings back the atmosphere of secret bars
Thursday, 25 June, at the Dress Up Corner also brings the Hidden Speakeasy Bar, a programme that, according to the Visit Opatija announcement, will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gervais Centre. It is a bilingual programme in Croatian and English, inspired by the period of American Prohibition and the atmosphere of secret bars. The programme includes a presentation of a retro cocktail menu, the preparation of classic cocktails and stories about their origins and drinking culture. The programme host is Emil Luštica, an Opatija mixologist from Sky Bar Gervais, and the organizers announce a more intimate, almost cinematic atmosphere that fits into the broader aesthetics of the event.
Such content builds on the fact that RetrOpatija is not only a musical event, but a combination of an urban festival, a stage experience, a gastronomic offer and a stylistic experiment. In contemporary festival programmes, the speakeasy motif is often used as a symbol of hidden, exclusive and playful nightlife, but in this case it also has an educational dimension because it introduces visitors to the history of cocktails and the social circumstances in which they emerged. According to the original programme, an additional dose of mystery will be created by entry with a password on the first floor of Gervais, turning the entire content into an experience that is not only observed from the outside, but in which the visitor actively participates.
Retro Talks opens a conversation about fashion as a social phenomenon
Friday, 26 June, is reserved for Retro Talks, a programme that, according to the official schedule, will be held from 6:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Gervais Centre. The host is Iva Pavletić Crnić, and the conversations are set up to look at fashion from several perspectives: as design, a cultural phenomenon, personal expression, an industry, a consumer practice and a space for sustainability. Maja Bižaca, a professor at the School of Trade and Fashion Design from Rijeka, will speak about the development of fashion through the 20th century and its contemporary reading. Anita Ladišić from the REDI Crafts brand will open the topic of handwork, upcycling and crochet, while Tena Lavrenčić from the educational platform Thinking Threads will speak about the contemporary fashion industry, circular, slow and sustainable fashion and consumer habits.
The programme continues with a conversation with Kornelija Kunkić from London Second Hand and Nera Marohnić, a Rijeka entrepreneur and fashion lover, about vintage clothing, styling, fashion styles, the relationship between commercial and designer brands, and smart shopping. Petra Fledrović from the Petra tailoring craft business will speak about design then and now, the influence of trends, colours and materials on behaviour and non-verbal communication, and the programme also includes a mini fashion show. Vivian Jurković from Dr. Vivian Estetic Medicine participates with the topic of contemporary beauty standards and trends in women’s care, while Mia Matrljan from Beauty Atelier Mia closes the evening series with the topic of pin-up make-up. According to the programme, Retro Talks thus connects practical advice with a cultural and social reading of fashion, giving the Dress Up Corner substantive weight beyond its sales section.
Photo corners, dance and the musical rhythm of past decades
Along with exhibitors and talks, the Dress Up Corner also announces playful photo corners, a retro mirror photo booth, a mini book flea market and visitor styling. These elements are important for the festival dynamic because they make it possible for the retro look to be immediately recorded and shared, but also ensure that the programme is not reduced only to shopping. Visitors can come for one detail, a complete makeover or just the atmosphere, and then continue toward other RetrOpatija locations. According to the supplied programme, the experience will be further completed by a drinks offer that evokes former flavours, including apricot with whipped cream, freshly squeezed watermelon juice and homemade iced tea made from wild cherry and elderflower.
The stage part of the Dress Up Corner will connect fashion with dance and music. Performances have been announced by the dance groups Dancing Machine at the Ris Dance Centre of Ivona Brnelić and Roxy Dance, while DJ Rabbit will guide visitors through the musical decades of the past century with a selection of hits. According to the description by Festival Opatija, RetrOpatija as an event combines swing, rockabilly, rock, jazz improvisations and disco rhythms, and the broader programme includes musicians, dancers, jugglers, street musicians, make-up artists, hairdressers, oldtimers and other participants. In that context, Dress Up Corner is a natural meeting point of the festival’s visual and musical identity, because retro fashion comes to the fore most strongly when it is included in the dance, stage and city atmosphere.
Prize makeover and cosmetics programme
Part of the programme is also connected with a prize giveaway on Visit Opatija’s social networks. According to the supplied information, the giveaway offers one winner a complete retro makeover for RetrOpatija: an outfit by the Dobra Roba brand, a hairstyle by Hair Studio Chairlotte and professional make-up by Salon Ivona Obrić. Participation is planned until 15 June by commenting on the prize post on Visit Opatija’s social networks, and the most creative answer should win the opportunity to shine at the Dress Up Corner on 27 June. According to the same information, the winner will be announced on 19 June.
The sponsor of the Dress Up Corner is Dr. Vivian Estetic Medicine. On the ground floor of the Gervais Centre, according to the programme announcement, visitors will be able to browse and purchase selected products from the Dr. Vivian Estetics cosmetics line. The offer includes skin care and protection preparations, facial cleansing products, and fragrance and beauty novelties, including Anti Aging Serum, Multivitamin Face Cream, Starlight cream with hyaluronic acid and SPF 50, and VIVI stick perfume. This segment also fits into the broader idea of the programme, because the retro makeover does not stop at clothing, but includes make-up, hairstyle, care, fragrance and the personal experience of style.
Traffic regulation and practical information for arrival
Since the main part of RetrOpatija takes place in the city space, visitors should also take into account special traffic organization. According to official information from Visit Opatija, on Saturday, 27 June, from 5 p.m. until Sunday, 28 June, at 5 a.m., Ulica maršala Tita will be closed to all traffic from the intersection with Radnička Street and V. C. Emin Street, that is, the turn-off for the Opatija harbour, to Slatina near the former Hotel Zagreb. On the same section of road, a parking ban will apply from 3 p.m. on 27 June until traffic reopens the following morning. The official programme also lists free parking at Preluk for visitors to RetrOpatija on 27 June and organized taxi rides on the route Preluk – turn-off for Hotel Ambasador.
According to Festival Opatija, RetrOpatija is an event with free admission, and its culmination is traditionally linked to the big Saturday party at the Summer Stage. Dress Up Corner therefore has a dual role: during the day and early evening it presents an independent fashion, design and discussion programme, while at the same time serving as a starting point for entering the broader festival rhythm. For those who want to fully participate in the atmosphere of the event, from 25 to 27 June Gervais becomes the place where clothing, hairstyle, make-up, music, photography and design merge into a personal festival identity.
Sources:
- Supplied programme material – initial information about the Dress Up Corner, programme, participants, prize giveaway and sponsor ()
- Tourist Board of the City of Opatija / Visit Opatija – official RetrOpatija 2026 programme, Dress Up Corner, time slots, traffic regulation and practical information (link)
- Visit Opatija – official Dress Up Corner page with information about exhibitors, the programme and the venue (link)
- Visit Opatija – Hidden Speakeasy Bar programme with time slot, programme description and information about the host (link)
- Visit Opatija – Retro Talks programme with the schedule of talks and list of participants (link)
- Festival Opatija – description of RetrOpatija, information about free admission, the organizer and the role of the Summer Stage (link)
- Festival Opatija – information about the history and address of the Gervais Centre (link)