From Jeff Koons prints to Pollock splatters, designers have taken inspiration from the art world for their autumn/winter collections...
Is fashion art? It’s the big question that has long been the subject of great debate and while the definitive answer may never be forthcoming, one thing is certain; right now, art is definitely fashionable.
Open any glossy magazine and you’ll find yourself pondering the serendipity of some fashionably arty item. Boutiques look more like art galleries. Must-have shoes look more like a Damien Hurst installation than something to go for a walk in. And even Kate Moss’s mother has become an artist’s agent.
Art is back in Vogue and we’re not talking ‘Water Colour Challenge’.It was Stella McCartney's collaboration with King of Kitsch, Jeff Koons, for her current collection that really kick started the current trend for all things arty. The American artist who sat front row to watch his clouds of bright pink and orange sweep down the Paris runway in the form of billowing party dresses, was also responsible for the iconic rabbit charm bracelets and necklaces which fast became one of this summer’s must have accessories.
“I wanted to inject a sense of fun on the runway. Jeff Koons is too cool for school!” exclaimed McCartney who has previously collaborated with artists including Gary Hume, David Remfry and Robert Crumb. “I like his sense of humour, his work is bold, sexy and inspired a lot of women.”
The collections for Autumn/Winter 2006 are set to continue in the same vein, with abundant painterly references. So much so that when fashion editors who attended the shows gushed about dresses being instant collector’s items, there was more significance to their words than ever before.
American designer Prouenza Schouler - whose creations have already been snapped up by Arthouse icon du jour Chloe Sevigny - chose the chaotic squiggles of abstract American artist Cy Twombly as inspiration for his collection.
Valentino sent supermodel Gemma Ward down his runway in a pair of graffitied trousers reminiscent of African American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s canvases and designer Ann Demeulemeester showed drip effect fabrics in the style of Jackson Pollock’s later work.
Donna Karan, normally associated with minimalist and monochrome clothes is another designer to have got swept away with her artistic side. “I have a thing for artists. I was married to one (the late Stephan Weiss), am inspired by them and have worked with many of them during my career.” Says Karan, whose latest collection of sleek tailoring could have been finished with the colourful brushstrokes of a New York art student. “I was inspired by the motion and fluidity of New York art, be it the graffiti you see everywhere in the streets or the amazing work hanging in MoMa and the DIA centre for arts.”
Back in London, accessory designer Lulu Guiness had plundered the archives of the Tate Modern in search of inspiration for her new couture collection of handbags. “I took my inspirations from Couteau, Dali and Magritte - the Surrealist era was my favourite time in fashion as well as art. The Tallulah bag, part of my ‘Surreal Glamour’ collection is a subtle nod to Magritte who used to write the names of objects underneath his images.” She added “I have always loved seeing the collaborations between designers and artists, especially between Elsa Schiaparelli, Dali and Jean Cocteau.”
No fashion house embraced the art scene quite like British design duo Antoni & Alison. They ditched the catwalk entirely and instead unveiled their collection in the sculpture studio at Chelsea School of Art. Wearing artist’s smocks and sculptor’s boiler suits, models were accessorized with brush or paint palette pendants and shoes made of artist’s rags. But surprisingly, the pair are adamant that art and fashion are two very separate things.
“Aswell as being fashion designers, Alison and I are also fine art photographers but we see a very clear difference between the two things. We don’t believe fashion is art - there are too many other reasons for it to exist such as function and practicality, where as art is something simply to look at. We were very inspired by how artists themselves dress, it’s a look we find really stylish and interesting.” said Antoni Burakowski.
So just what is it that has made art the new best friend for fashion to hang out with? Harriett Quick, Fashion Features Editor at Vogue explains: “As far back as the 1930s when Elsa Schiaparelli created clothes inspired by her friends Salvador Dali and Picasso or the 1970s when Yves Saint Laurent created his famous Mondrian dresses, fashion designers have often taken inspiration from art.”
“Designers take inspiration from all sorts of things but at the moment there’s a real movement to create very special pieces and to up the cultural anti. On a more social level, many of these designers like Azzedeine Allaia and Stella McCartney are enthusiastic and knowledgeable art collectors themselves, so it’s easy for the two worlds to overlap.”
Julie Verhoeven, an artist who’s sketches have in the past been featured on Marc Jacob’s bags for Louis Vuitton, has worked in numerous ways across fashion and art, since starting her career in the late eighties as John Galliano’s design assistant.
Although she admits the two worlds overlap, Verhoeven has no trouble defining the boundaries between her two passions. “Art is complete self-indulgence. You have no consideration for anyone else.
"Fashion is different - you can’t be completely ridiculous. If you did that with your clothes, the business would go under.”
So as we indulge ourselves in the new collections – with no consideration for our bank balance - at least this season we’ll have the perfect excuse. “More Shoes? Oh no darling, it’s art!”
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