designers
INSPIRED DESIGN WE ASKED OUR MOST FASHIONABLE FRIENDS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF ART ON THEIR CREATIVE PROCESSES.
ARNOLD BRANT SILVERSTONE, HICKEY FREEMAN & SAMUELSOHN I came across this photograph of rock formation called The Painted Desert, a visually wondrous place in the Badlands of Arizona. The band of colors struck me as ethereal. It stayed with me for days and I ultimately designed a
BY JILLIAN LAROCHELLE
whole collection for Hickey Freeman spring/summer 2017 inspired by it with layers
MIKE FAHERTY, FAHERTY
of dusty rose, tan and putty.
From an early age I was interested in art and found myself practicing it
The arid essence of
frequently. I was lucky enough to grow up near New York City, so I had
the desert image natural-
access to some of the world's greatest museums. Early on I was drawn to
ly led to crafting a looser
more classical art styles like Impressionism, but through my education I
silhouette, which is a
was exposed to more eras of art and I found myself most excited about
pendulum swing from
the Abstract Expressionistic works of Gerhard Richter. His beautiful use
the previous season. We cut the interior canvas of our jackets on the bias
of color inspires me to this day.
for a fashionable drape. We hand-tailored incredibly light canvases and
When I started following Richter's artworks, it became clear to me that I
interlinings for feather-light construction combined with summer’s most
was mostly drawn to his
exotic fabrications. Silk runs throughout the collection to add quiet strength
use of color combinations.
to tissue-fine fabric and to add a whisper of luminosity.
As I made my way into the fashion world, I fell in love with designing tex-
BRUNELLO CUCINELLI, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
tiles and creating my own color combinations in
I have a passion for literature as an art form and really value reading. My favorite and most-read book is Mediations by Marcus Aurelius. I have drawn many life lessons from his words and messages from the stories he writes. I discovered the book early on in my career and it has guided me in my life since. I instantly connected with its messages and the writings have become close treasures. I have read this book numerous times and continually take away something new each time I read its passages. The foundation of the brand and the collection begins with the philosophies and ideologies that I believe in, many of which I discovered through the teachings of Marcus Aurelius. Just as the great philosophers value legacy, humanity and living a full life, these principles are carried with us as we design the collection each season.
prints and plaids, which are found throughout my collections at Faherty. You have to walk a fine line when creating textiles and prints that stand out so that they are still easy to wear with the rest of your wardrobe. When you walk into a museum or gallery and Richter is on the wall, you are immediately drawn to his use of color. But as you get closer, there is an easiness to the color combinations that makes them seem less daunting. That's always my intention when designing our textiles: at first you're drawn to them from across the store, but as you approach them, they become more inviting to wear.
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