The avalanche of collaborations between the art and fashion worlds in recent years is evidence of the umbilical cord that now ties the two industries. What is so alluring about this interbreeding of art and fashion? Alison Kubler, co-author with Mitchell Oakley Smith of Art/Fashion in the 21st century explains: “Art brings to fashion the one thing it lacks: longevity.” Whereas fashion is bound to seasons, art is supposed to be timeless. “I think fashion looks to art to acquire something of art’s ability to transcend seasons and trends, to achieve iconic status as opposed to cult status,” she adds.
“Art brings to fashion the one thing it lacks: longevity.”
Examples of art-inspired clothing are almost inexhaustible. From Damien Hirst’s butterfly dresses for Alexander McQueen and Dutch collage artist Tim Roeloffs’ dresses for Versace, to Rob Pruitt’s collaboration with Jimmy Choo and Dior’s use of 1950s Andy Warhol sketches on a range of clothes and accessories, one does not need to look far to find contemporary art on the world’s runways. In fact, collaborations have become almost commonplace, says Mitchell Oakley Smith, co-author with Kubler. “Simply licensing an artist’s work and printing it on garments is a banal approach,” he says.
Of course, that’s exactly what the fashion world is trying to avoid. What makes for a successful collaboration then, is integrity. That’s when great things can happen, Oakley Smith explains. “Sometimes the outcome isn’t commercial or product based.”
“Any house can collaborate with an artist on a product, but they don’t always result in items of cultural significance,” Kubler adds. The success of some of the collaborations that Marc Jacobs instigated at Louis Vuitton, from Stephen Sprouse and Jürgen Teller to Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama, were partly due to the designer’s understanding that history, craftsmanship and authenticity is worth a great deal, she says. Moreover, collaborations should challenge the status quo. “Engaging Takashi Murakami...constituted a break with tradition for Louis Vuitton, which was a calculated risk. And all good art involves risk.”
This long-standing and undeniably lucrative partnership came to an end in July this year, when Louis Vuitton removed all Murakami merchandise from their stores, twelve years after the first colorful handbag inspired by the artist was sold.
Of course, the relationship between art and fashion extends much further than simply art-inspired runway designs. Miuccia Prada commissioned six contemporary artists, including El Mac, Mesa, Gabriel Specter, Stinkfish, Jeanne Detallante and Pierre Mornet, to create murals to decorate her catwalk for her spring 2014 show in Milan. Karl Lagerfeld took it one step further for Chanel, almost transforming the Grand Palais into one big art exhibition featuring 75 sculptures and paintings conceived by the designer himself.
In 2013, Ralph Lauren invited a number of emerging artists to transform the front of its Denim & Supply NY Union Square store in a project dubbed The Art Wall. American artists Hell Bent covered the building with a signature piece of colorful street art, and designed a t-shirt as part of a range of special-edition items released by the house, sales of which benefited students at New York’s School of Visual Arts.
Other fashion houses have also shown a philanthropic side when it comes to the arts, like when Italian fashion houses Gucci and Ferragamo stepped in to support a local museum and exhibition earlier this year, donating a total of €940, 000.
Images posted by KAWS to Instagram. Courtesy of KAWS.
In New York earlier this month, performance artist Marina Abramovic directed Givenchy’s show in a what Kubler calls a “very specific melding of the two worlds”. Not only was the set, made of all recycled materials, designed in collaboration with Abramovic, performance artists were set throughout the multilevel space, performing works created by her.
“Customers are craving more than simply a handbag or t-shirt (although they want that too) — they now want an experience that money can’t buy.”
That collaborations are so prevalent is evidence of their success and the fact that they are mutually beneficial to both artists and fashion houses, says Oakley Smith. “Often an artist is paid or afforded an enormous platform to showcase their work, and the fashion house is imbued with a spirit of newness that helps differentiate them in the market.
Now that we’ve seen everything from art-inspired design to designers becoming artists or artists becoming designers, where will this lucrative relationship evolve to next? “I think what we’ve already seen, are immersive experiences,” Oakley Smith says. Prada’s Wes Anderson-designed café, Vanessa Beecroft working as a choreographer of sorts for Kanye West’s recent shows at New York Fashion Week, and the large-scale installation by James Turrell at Louis Vuitton’s Las Vegas store, is evidence that “customers are craving more than simply a handbag or t-shirt (although they want that too) — they now want an experience that money can’t buy.”
Art and fashion collaborations
Murakami-inspired bag by Louis Vuitton, photo via instanteluxe
Prada spring 2014 in Milan, photo via Prada
Wes Anderson-designed Prada café in Milan, photo Attilio Maranzano, courtesy Fondazione Prada (via Prada)
