I've always thought as Art as a form of fashion. Throughout my education, fashion design has been catagorised under the subject art, and i have continued to study it this way. However, over at TIME magazine they have an article against my view, and has made me rather optimistic about the whole prospect of the fashion/art debate. Jeff Chu says:
"while fashion may be artsy, artistic, artful, enjoying an art-infused moment and even (gasp!) influential in certain art circles, it's not art."
But surely if fashion is so thouroughly linked to the arta, shouldn't it be a form in its own right?
Ingrid Sisley, creator of the Florence Biennale show 1996, states "The conventional wisdom was that fashion was the enemy of art." Which is an odd concept seeing as art has played such a major role in many of the major designers collections for S/S '08.
(artistic prints at chanel + luella)
This season more than ever, the art and fashion world has started to merge together like never before. Summer stated the return of the print, whether it be stars at chanel, Florals at Luella or the-soon-to-become-iconic balenciaga print. Im sure not many people will argue with the artistic aspects of Prada's S/S '08 collection, following up from the online inspiration video, Trembled Blossoms. The charming pixie print was created by artist James Jean, who also has worked in the art industry (specialising in captivating paintings of mythical/fairy-like charachters) since 1999.
(picture sources jamesdean.com)
Another collection that has formed a solid link with the art world is Viktor + Rolf, whom's fashion designs are more a work of art than something you could bung on to go to the corner shop. Recently the fashion duo have opened an exhibition at an art gallery (barbrican)to showcase some of their more influential peices. A good point is that fashion is often included in art galleries, and are some of the most popular exhibitions are those which link to the world of fashion, and I know i love my visits to the V&A's Fashion Through The Ages gallery, in which they have fascinating talks and lectures about the history of fashion, aswell as the links to art.
(Balenciaga's structured suits have been strongly linked to the world of archiatechture and was mentioned in Vogue June. Balenciaga, Viktor + Rolf S/S '08.)A final word is that i do believe that fashion is very similar to art. I see fashion as very visual (well, who would shop with their eyes closed?), and i also apply this to art. They are both subjects I very much enjoy, and i hope one day the art world will recognise fashion for the wonderful art form it should be classified as.
Hope you are all well, sorry for the lack of posting,
Molly x
