Art and Fashion

Visual Arts is not just about art, exhibitions and galleries. It’s about the celebration of creativity, design and beauty in all its various forms. Fashion is just one of those many forms; As a piece of design in itself and as another medium through which more ‘traditional’ art works find a new voice.

When one tries to think of an example of how art works find new expression through clothes, one automatically conjures up images of the 60s when Op Art and Pop Art designs exploded into the fashion scene.

Thanks to the availability of sythentic fabrics, mass reproduction and a new culture of consumer goods fashion took a whole new turn.

With the arrival of British mod fashion in America and  The Responsive Eye exhibition in New York which showcased Bridget Reily’s black and white geometrically abstract art works although not wanted by the artist a new explosion of geometrically patterned clothing and accessories became de riguer.

Pop Artists also found a new mouthpiece in commercial fashion with iconic, mass produced artworks by artists such as Andy Warhol  being printed onto clothing.

One must not forget the Yves Saint Lauren’s Mondrian Dress of 1965 which literally turned blurred the lines between clothing and canvas.

For a more contemporary example of how art and fashion are closely interlinked look no further than Amateur Couture, an online blog who’s tagline is ‘I love fashion and fashion loves art.’ Her posts consist of cleverly chosen images of artworks and pieces of fashion that correspond on a certain theme or design. Her artistic eye is impressive and her blog helps to show how fashion and art are inter-relatable and interdependent.

http://www.amateurcouture.com/

You should also check out The Sartorialist. His renowned photographical documentation of fashion, from the people he meets daily to the high-end fashion shows, is inspiring. His fascination with the tiny details of fashion design, such as the turn of a trouser cuff, places fashion in its own artistic arena.

http://www.thesartorialist.com/

Happy Fashion Finding, 

:)

Image Sources:

1) http://www.op-art.co.uk/op-art-fashion/

2)http://www.plastic-society.com/the-velvet-underground-nico-andy-warhol-rare-60s-print-t-shirt-i21.html

3) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/C.I.69.23

4-6) http://www.amateurcouture.com/

7)http://www.thesartorialist.com/