If Botticelli were alive today he'd be working for Vogue
-Sir Peter Ustinov-
Fashion and art always are in close relationship, and contemporary art is not an exception. What is more, with the popularization of contemporary art, the world of fashion became an art too. Luis Casablanca Migueles, a lecturer from the department of Drawing at the University of Granada in Spain, a country which is one of the fashion capitals of the world, has carried out a research project that analyses fashion as an artistic discipline; he considers fashion as “a plural phenomenon, one of the most important contemporary artistic disciplines.”
Now almost all popular and even famous luxury fashion brands collaborate with painters, illustrators, photographers and other artists from any movement in order to create new collections, make staggering and catchy adverts, update their catwalks or develop the concept of a fashion show to make it all unforgettable.
Fashion has always been influenced by art. Thus French fashion designer, Paul Poiret, who was the Picasso of the twentieth-century`s fashion world, employed artists and purchased their works, which was reflected in his models. Under the impact of art Lucien Vogel, the publisher of Jardin des Modes and La Gazette du Bon Ton, hired photographer Edward Steichen in 1911, in order to promote fashion as a fine art. And aren`t tubular dresses with square low necks and rounded cloche hats an echo of Cubism? In 1930, the late-futurist painter Lucio Venna drafted sketches for the advertisement of Ferragamo' shoes.
These cases are by no means isolated examples. If anything the connection has only grown with the years. The Prada Foundation is going to build a 17,000 square meter museum in Milan, to exhibit artworks related to the existing Prada collection, cinema, design and architecture. The Trussardi Foundation set up a temporary exhibition at the Piazza del Duomo, in Milan, where there were shown videos and films of the most up-and-coming artists all over the world. Louis Vuitton launched a collection of bags together with the famous Takashi Murakami, in which the blush colors of Murakami’s bright and crazy characters brought new life to the classic design. There are further examples, too numerous to mention, that illustrate the tight-knit connection between the art and fashion worlds
Clothes are an important factor of human life, like an extra, changing skin that we wear at all times. Because of this, it is natural that we would want our appearance to show our individuality, and it is because of this that art goes to the assistance of fashion. Even if you’re not looking at the top luxury fashion brands, art will still influence your choices, from Burton snowboard designs to Jeremy Scott Adidas Originals.
Fashion and Contemporary art