featuring Fashion Brand Company Nathaniel Thompson Christian Gutierrez
living at the intersection of fashion and art by Abbey Wiggam
f * art
TABLE of
CONTENTS
06 fashion artists
20 artist talk with Nathaniel Thompson
34 accessories at home
50
44 artist talk with Christian Gutierrez
at the core
62 letter from the editor
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the fashion artists bridging the gap between fine art and fashion
Today we ponder the age-old question: is fashion art? But can art be fashion? Is all fashion art? Is it both fashion and art but for different reasons? Okay, so asking if fashion is art can get very subjective. It can fall more under the design category because design is often described as art with a function outside of aesthetic pleasure. That answers why people are typically called fashion designers, not fashion artists. But that doesn’t mean fashion artists don’t exist. A fashion artist is not just an innovator, not just a designer, but instead sits right at the delicate line between artist and designer. The fashion artist may not know how to sew and create garments, but they can create art to transform into garments, or create a full performance art piece out of a fashion show. A fashion artist seamlessly moves about mediums and puts their touch on everything they do.
Penelope Gazin is a fashion artist.
She’s always dabbled in different artistic mediums, starting with a career in animation (with works appearing on Vice and music videos), to illustration (with a series of comics and commercial works) and finally finding painting (with her work being featured in a number of galleries). Despite having no experience with fashion, Gazin had been putting her art onto clothes and selling them on Witchsy, the dark-Etsy she created with Kate Dwyer. The site, born out of frustration with the excessive clutter and limitations of bigger marketplaces like Etsy, sells enamel pins, shirts, zines, art prints, handmade crafts and other wares from a stable of hand-selected artists. Gazin sold an array of pins, paintings, jumpsuits and sweaters with her art on them, but as interest grew, she knew it was time to develop a solo brand.
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Gazin’s brand decisions and designs—which she produces in inventory counts sometimes as low as 50—have a tongue-in-cheekiness to them that fully reflect her art. When asked about her Sex House sweater design, Gazin told ManRepeller, “at the time, I had just done a painting of a cross section of a doll house that had a bunch of people having sex in it, and had called it ‘Sex House.’ And that tickled me. So I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll combine my perv art with something very kind of innocent and genuinely kind of nostalgic, or something.’ Gazin’s focus with Fashion Brand Company is to make comfortable and fun clothes that fully embody who she is and what she wants to wear. She doesn’t keep up with new designers (unless she’s Googling to make sure someone hasn’t already done a wacky idea she’s come up with) and has zero fashion training of any kind. This bubble frees her from keeping up with trends and just lets Fashion Brand Company exist in its own plane, which has in itself created new trends and sparked a new creativity in wearable fashion.
Psychic Burden Mini Velvet Dress $135
"I love to make everything stupid and funny and enjoyable for me." teal satin thong $24
teal satin jumpsuit $145 half-and-half jumpsuit $235
Another way to answer the question of whether fashion qualifies as art is to determine whether it should hang on a wall or clothe a body. In 2015, Viktor & Rolf said, “why not both?” Their Fall 2015 Haute Couture show was called “Wearable Art” and transformed framed canvases on a wall into ensembles on the runway. Like Penelope Gazin, Viktor & Rolf explore absurdity in their work. This show had the designers working as performance artists, methodically unfastening their works from a series of models and hanging them on the white wall behind the runway. It invokes the feeling of loving a piece of art so much that you want to wear it.
Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute C Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art Couture Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wea Art” Haute Couture Fall 2015 Viktor “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Fall 2 & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute C Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art Couture Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wea Art” Haute Couture Fall 2015 Viktor “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Fall 2 & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute C Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art Couture Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wea Art” Haute Couture Fall 2015 Viktor “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Fall 2 & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art” Haute C Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wearable Art Couture Fall 2015 Viktor & Rolf “Wea Art” Haute Couture Fall 2015 Viktor “Wearable Art” Haute Couture Fall 2
This, of course, has been done in many commercial ways, like the Vans x Vincent Van Gogh designs, sites like Redbubble and Society6 that allow artists to have work printed onto a range of base garments, and the old masters on t-shirts being sold anywhere from Highsnobiety to Urban Outfitters. But what’s so unique and special about Fashion Brand Company and Viktor & Rolf is that they are fully transforming the art and fashion together. Penelope Gazin does not just print a painting onto a t-shirt; she designs the perfect pair of butt-hugging leggings and a luscious silk blazer lining for her art to reside. Viktor & Rolf could have just incorporated gold leaf and frames into their designs, but they took it further and hung the garments on the wall after wear. Fashion artists take garments that one extra step, they focus on extra details and creativity that only come from both an artist and a designer.
written by abbey wiggam photos sourced online
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artist talk with Nathaniel Thompson
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO? I am Nathaniel. I am a photographer and artist moonlighting as a manager at a real estate firm. Or rather vice versa.
How would you describe your style of art? A collage and documentation of how I perceive the world.
What/who inspires your practice? Sonic inspiration comes from Talking Heads at the top of the pyramid, visual artist’s mainly include Ruppersberg and Ruscha, as well as photographers Sally Mann and Martin Parr.
What is the most used object/tool in your studio? Definitely my camera, and my other camera, and that other camera, and that one too…
What step of your practice excites you most? The idea. It’s the very beginning of that specific journey and I have no idea where it will lead me.
How has quarantine affected your practice? A lot less focus on my personal work and more focus on catching up on all the other work I have to do for everyone else.
How would you describe your style of fashion? Proper when it needs to be, improper when it wants to be. .
What/who inspires your style? Me.
What is your most worn piece of clothing? My glasses. You’ll never see me without them and I would definitely not see you!
What step of getting dressed excites you most? Still the beginning. I can start with one piece and let that direct the whole outfit.
What role, if any, does your personal style affect your art practice? My style and art are both a representation of myself and can speak for me when I cannot form the words on my own.
How has quarantine affected your style? It hasn’t. I’m not going to let a virus tell me how to dress. @nr.thompson nrthompson.com
Photos by Nathaniel Thompson
flesh cave swim trunks $95 fashionbrandcompany.com “Flesh Cave� acrylic paint and ink on paper by penelope gazin
learning to appreciate the small stuff
acc ess o r ies at h ome Now, more than ever, it’s time to re-imagine our accessories. In this world of neck-up visuals, it’s time to emphasize the small things. Make a statement with what can be seen - even if you’re the only one who sees it. It’s time to treat our earrings like the art they are and keep them on display. No more hidden jewelry boxes. Display them loud and proud! In a video conference, no one can see the designer logo monogram on your belt. But they can see the new earrings you made with charms from the craft store (or an old keychain, small toys, tassells, pearls, etc....). Flip two pages for a homemade earring tutorial and support your local art supply store! Earrings breathe a new life into any look. They instantly say “hello, this is a real put-together outfit and not just my pajamas” even if it is, in fact, your
by Abbey Wiggam pajamas, but now with earrings. Adding that one extra step can trick the mind into feeling like a million bucks. And with the distance of screens between us, we say when it comes to accessorizing, the bigger the better! Studs? Unnoticeable. Five-inch rhinestone and gold danglies? Dazzling! Throw in some pearls for an extra level of class. If you thought that headbands already had their moment, think again! Headbands are another way to immediately appear puttogether. They can tuck away a bad hair day and add that extra level of oomf. Don’t worry about a headband shortage at the shops -- according to WGSN Instock, headbands account for 47% of hair accessories in retail. Get out and find one as ornate as you are! Featured here is a classic pink satin, but pearl-embellished bands are on the rise, as well as braided and rhinestone-embellished. It’s time to celebrate everything we’ve got and dress to the nines. Social distancing can’t keep you from looking good!
run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own.
rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings? make your own. all you need are pliers, fishhooks, jump rings, and something with a hole. use the pliers to open the jump ring. hook the ring through the hole and the fishhook. use two jump rings if necessary. close jump rings. repeat. run out of earrings?
artist talk with Christian Gutierrez
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO? Hello! I am an artist and curator located in Savannah, GA. My practice consists of a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, installation, video, you name it. Most of my work in the studio involves investigating queer subjectivity and translating that experience into material. On top of maintaining a studio practice I also do independent curatorial work and art writing.
How would you describe your style of art? My style is very cut and paste. I predominantly use collage, assemblage, and printing techniques to create artwork using media that exists around us. Aesthetically the work is minimal in nature. I prefer to use restraint in order to allow the context of the material to be at the forefront.
What/who inspires your practice? Artists like Tom Burr, Henrik Olesen, Liliana Porter, and Paulo Nimer Pjota inspire my work visually and conceptually. But I find so much inspiration from my own experience in the world. Things like drag, politics, and my own relationships are the main driving forces for my work.
What is the most used object/tool in your studio? That’s a close call between glue and my handy staple gun.
What step of your practice excites you most? The ideas and concepts before the work is created is the most exciting part. The finished product is a great place to be at as well, but the actual process is my least favorite.
How has quarantine affected your practice? OOF it has really impacted my practice. Its hard to feel productive when the world is so scary and times are so uncertain. A lot of projects stopped dead in their tracks with no foreseeable return, and the space and resources I had access to are no longer available. Its been a challenge to say the least, but I am trying to be optimistic. It has been a great time to step back and analyze my past work as well as ripe for future ideas to come to fruition. Overall, it has been a great lesson in acceptance and flexibility.
How would you describe your style of fashion?
I think my fashion sense can be best describes as a little eclectic with lots of color blocking. I love playing with textures and patterns within a limited color palette. Nothing is ever too ornate. That way the clothes feel simply iconic.
What/who inspires your style? I would say drag queens, 90s club kids, 80’s fashion and homo-erotica, and the aforementioned artists.
What is your most worn piece of clothing?
I have this coat….its fantastic. It’s a red and tan (p)leather coat and has a beautiful color blocked design. The sleeves are a fun red wool and the body of the jacket has these chunky buttons and simple exposed black thread details. Its my absolute favorite.
What step of getting dressed excites you most?
I think seeing the transformation. There is a performative quality to getting ready. Clothing feels like a costume and you
images by Abbey Wiggam
can decide to pick and choose how you want to present that day. Mixing separates to create a final look is something I look forward to every day. No matter how I dress, it’s important for the clothing to always feel like me.
What role, if any, does your personal style affect your art practice?
I feel like there are a lot of similarities to how I approach my art and my closet, they are very much inspired by the same things. In a lot of ways fashion is just another outlet to explore those interests.
How has quarantine affected your style?
It’s forcing me to revisit older pieces that I haven’t used in a long time or looked over. Im finding myself incorporating those clothes back into my life. Ive also been more free with how I dress since no one can see me haha. Some days I dress in my go tos, other days I dress in wild combinations just because I can get away with it. @christianmiguelgutierrez christianmgutierrez.com
50 written by abbey wiggam research from dazed influenced by tik tok photos sourced online
at the core
The impact of social media is a highly-debated hot topic, but it undeniably has affected fashion trends. There’s the well-known trends like the minimalist and the baddie, but there is a growing group of young people creating niche aesthetics that encapsulate fashion and lifestyle. These aesthetics are called “cores.” Tik Tok has stood out as a conductor of these aesthetics because enthusiasts can showcase multiple outfits, hobbies, decorations, and tutorials on their chosen aesthetic. Here, we go deep into four of these new cores and learn about what it means to follow their aesthetic.
52 cottagecore
the aesthetic s
taking over s ocial media
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cLOWNcORE “Clowncore – an existential image crisis. Parents have uttered the emotionally deprecating stock phrase “you look like a clown” to children for years. Recently, wearing as many colors as possible, lavish makeup, face tattoos and dressing like a clown year-round has become a niche trend in the underground. Whether it’s a way of reclaiming past scars or a way of embracing vibrancy and embracing the full spectrum of looks, clown aesthetics are a fun trend for 2018” Clowncore started in more of the alternative and undergound scenes and is essentially defined by dressing like a clown. Brooklyn party hosts Olivia Galov and Abby Fiscus starting throwing clownthemed parties in 2015, so the aesthetic has been slowly making it’s way into alternative culture. “A lot of times when I go to nightlifetype parties in New York, I feel like my former high school self staring at the hot popular people drinking bottle service and I go sit in the bathroom alone,” she said.
“People can’t judge me if I’m a clown. There are a lot of clowns in New York nightlife, whether they admit it or not—I’m just showing my true colors for the whole world to see.” Abby Fiscus. It’s also safe to blame the circus atmosphere of the most recent presidential election for the clown mania as the trend started emerging in late 2016 while political debates were in full swing. You’ll find clowncore in the alternative, underground, and dance scenes. It may also be referred to as clownpunk because of the darker tones. A more light-hearted version of clowncore focused more on preschool and child- like clown aesthetic has grown away from clownpunk. This trend is still tagged as clowncore but is an evolution from the underground styles. This evolving trend is focused more on using bright primary colors and patterns but more related to rainbows and nostalgia.
goblincore Goblincore celebrates gems, coins, and cool trinkets to form collections. These collections can consist of rocks, moss, sticks, driftwood, crystals, buttons, candles, pins, small bones or skulls, and really just anything that grabs their attention. A branch of goblincore is devoted to friendship with the forest and its inhabitants. Followers of goblincore often like gardening, moss and mushrooms, shiny things, small creatures, and vintage glass jars or bottles. Goblincore is similar to cottagecore in its connection to nature, but differs in the hoarding and love of wetlands over grassy fields.
Goblincore fashion is rooted in thrifting and vintage. Clothes are often oversized and preworn so fit as cozy as possible, popular items include overalls, shorts, and sweaters. Dark and earthy colors tend to qualify the looks as they match nature and will hide any stains. Outfits are often accessorized with found objects that have been transformed into jewelry, mismatched socks, and a choppy haircut. Mismatching earrings has become quite the trend in many of these new core aesthetics because it allows the wearer to show off as many types of earrings as possible and fully fit their aesthetic.
lovecore
L o v e c o re, known also as cherry Lolita, is all about making every day Valentine’s Day. Clothes come in shades of pink and red and graphics are all about love. Cherries, hearts, love letters, and strawberries are the most common icons. Lovecore is an evolution from the pastel goth and kawaii aesthetics of the mid 2010s but with a more contemporary silhouette. Lovecore is less about the actual silhouette of the clothes and more about the color and iconography. You can find lovecore enthusiasts watching Sailor Moon or the latest Netflix romcom and drinking strawberry milk in their plush pink bed. Lovecore enthusiasts also enjoy writing love letters and fanfaction, daydreaming, and making playlists with their favorite love songs.
obscene comic print dress $75 fashionbrandcompany.com “Wake� acrylic paint and ink on paper by penelope gazin
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letter from the editor Abbey Wiggam