‘COLLISION OF ART AND FASHION TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE COLLISION OF ART AND FASHION SHAPED THE INDUSTIRIES AND CHANGED IDEAS OF CONCEPTUAL ART AND DESIGN, INDEFINATLEY? THE BORROWING OF VALUES ATTENDING TO FASHION’S IMPULSE TO GROW AND ART’S NECECITY TO BE DISCOVERED AND PERCIEVED BY AN AUDIENCE. •
• • • • • • • •
• • • • •
FASHION BORROWING ARTS RICHES AND AUTHENTICITY – Barthes highlights the intertwining of the creative arts.“and last, art (painting, sculpture, literature, film) the riches of inspirational themes, marked in the rhetoric of Fashion by total eclecticism, provided the references themselves” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 242). Fashion “stems from the human propensity to communicate through symbols” (Entwistle. J 2015, p. 66). “the richest of inspirational themes” (Barthes. R 1967, p. 240) [hierarchy value] Fashion, over time, value most defiantly decreases, therefore designers constant search for ideas motivates the continuous intertwining of practices/industries (Fashion and Art, Valerie Steele, 2012: 24-25) designers have taken enormous inspiration from the work of artist in order to provoke change, new meaning or to convey something of culture relatable to society. (Entwistle. J 2015, p. 45) When fashion was then placed in the surrounding of art it aspires to meet art high culture associations, it’s past market value it evolves into that of art (Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012, p. 3). Aggrandising – increasing the power, status or wealth (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 16) “the aggrandising power of aligning oneself in the art arena” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 16) “The art world has been somewhat slower off the mark in adapting these new retail and media landscapes” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 20) The world of art, is reliant on the space of the gallery “The art world is still reliant upon museum and gallery exhibitions to generate media exposure via magazine reviews and the publication of exhibition catalogues, and the success of an exhibition it still measured by its attendance figures” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 20-21) “fashion has a ‘price’ and art has a ‘value’ Art typically appreciates in value, whereas fashion, despite the perpetual trend for vintage, typically depreciates” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 20) Fashion has a natural impulse to grow and advance. [art needed fashion] Fashion and art collide with the idea of social mobility, in the promise of creating something better “this kind of mutually supportive community that has become a template for artistic enclaves down the years” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion BoothClibborn Editions, London. p 11). however utopian it may be, it does not abandon the project of certain activity, i.e., of a certain transitivity of its language ( it must persuade its readers to wear the garment). (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 236-237).
• • • • •
•
Since the beginning of Modernity, fashion has been obliged to reveal metaphors and demonstrate numerous prospects through dress. (Geczy. A 2012, p. 58). Millennium transformed the relationships between art and fashion “Since the turn of the millennium, the global fashion industry has increasingly looked to the art world for inspiration and information” fuel fashion appetite for change (Entwistle. J 2015 p. 45). Fashion is aware of its perpetual impulse to advance and grow, Geczy and Karaminas discuss the essential role fashion has had in the evolution of modernity (Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012, p. 6). “when social science deals with a reality partially transformed into language by society itself: this, moreover, is why every sociology of motivations, symbols, or communications, which cannot achieve its object except through human speech, is called upon, it seems, to collaborate with semiological analysis; furthermore: being language… by ascending to the rhetorical signified, the analyst touches the termination of his task; but this termination is the very moment when he joins the historical world and, in that world, the objective place he himself occupies” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 234) “fashion is generally understood to be fickle, transient and largely driven by popular culture, fine art is viewed as timeless, considered and elitist. Art has historically been exalted as the more noble and intellectual pursuit in comparison to fashion, which was regarded as a primarily commercially motivated form of expression” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 11)
THE BORROWING OF TECHNIQUES AND COLLISION OF PRACTICES HAS TRANSFORMED THE INDUSTRIES INDEFINATELY. • • • • •
• • • •
Fashion was formed in the meeting of art and society Geczy refers to this idea of social mobility as a time where fashion and art integrate (Geczy. A 2012 p. 56). relevant to what the art represents, or can replay something of the past to demonstrate new meaning (Karaminas 2012, p 180). “Art prepared the ground for the emergence and reception of conceptual fashion” (Clark. H 2012 p 68), “the British art school system is the envy of the world. Within the likes of Goldsmith’s (that boasts alumni as diverse as Mary Quant, Sam Taylor-Wood and Alex James) and Chelsea School of Art(David Hockney to Alexa Chung) there has always been a cross pollination of ideas between departments, with students not only sharing studios and conceptual discourse over a coffee in the canteen, but just as likely beds” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 13). “The concept of ‘originality’ in contrast with the act of reproduction inherit in fashion” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 12) The momentous moments in the collision of fashion and art have aided each other to progress and reach new lengths of creativity that have never been seen before. fashion and art alike, the language of culture, equally enchanted by each other. The twenty-first century was a time for fashion where its collide with art blossomed beyond anything imaginable.
• •
•
• •
•
• • •
• •
Artists have consistently collaborated with designers, they have frequently been in conspiracy with fashion as it has evolved since the modernist project. Fashion contributed to the popularity of art (Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012, p.1). “designers and artists have influenced and inspired one another, artists have contributed prints and designs for garments and accessories, plenty of individuals have defied the boundaries between fashion and art” (Greeves, Susanna. 2012 Collusion, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p. 2). “Today, established fashion houses such as Hermés, Louis Vuitton and Bally collaborate with artists to simultaneously reinvent their brand for existing clientele and make them relevant to new audiences in a contemporary context” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 13) “thus assuming a position of cultural sophistication” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 16) “collaboration in fashion is evident in the way a house employs an artist’s work for the purpose of decorating its signature or staple products, such as leathergoods, accessories and fabrics” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 96) “this level of collaboration varies; while in some instances an artist is invited to alter a product’s physical proportions, construction and style, or indeed imagine an entirely new product” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 96) “such collaborations between art and fashion represent an important meeting of the two worlds” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 96) “the concept of ‘collaboration’ – a 21st Century buzzword” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 96) “A fashion collection created in collaboration with an artist is almost always a one-off capsule, whose status as a limited edition gives it the aura of authenticity normally associated with work of art” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 96-101) Consumers desire for something extra. The relationship between art and fashion can be described as a ‘collusive one “mutual risk for mutual reward” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 101) “both scrutinized and admired as an influential force in the shifting hierarchy of the art world” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 159)
• RESULTED IN THE MOST INNOVATIVE AND CONCEPTUAL FASHION DESIGN AND FORMED SIGNIFICANT TIES BETWEEN THE INDUSTRIES. • fashion has become more than ever something of popular culture and modernity. • Barthes considers the fundamentals of fashion, its nature to combine the modern elements with history in order to increase its allusive content (Barthes. R 1967, p 240). • This idea of social mobility as a time where fashion and art integrate (Geczy. A 2012 p. 56)
• • •
"world's perception of a brand's status and power"(Frankel S. 2010 Perfect match: How the crossover between fashion and art inspires creations on canvas and the catwalk). “to make contemporary artists the new celebrities within the fashion industry” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 206) “Design writer Bradley Quinn believes that the past decade’s explosive combination of fashion, art and architecture, as exemplified by the proliferation of large-scale shopfronts and architecturally significant fashion emporiums, has deep historical roots and is an expression of the essential similarities between the two crafts” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248)
MUSEUMS/GALLERIES & SHOP/BOUTIQUES TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE POSITIONING OF FASHION WITHIHN THE GALLERY SPACE, ENGAGED FASHION WITH THE SAME VALUE SYSTEM AS ART (HIGH END FASHION)? CREATIVE DESIGN/SIMELARITIES IN VALUES TECHNICAL BENEFITS – A NEW ERA OF DESIGN • “it moblilizes with great variety all the qualities of matter: Substance, form, colour, tactility, movement, rigity, luminosity” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 236) • “its signifier is constituted by all the metaphorical variations of the ‘detail’… The ‘detail’ involves two constant and complementary themes: tenuousness and creativity; the exemplary metaphor here is the seed, the tiny being from which an entire harvest springs: a ‘morsel’ of ‘nothing’, and suddenly we have an entire outfit permeated with the meaning of fashion” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 243) • Haute couture can be naturally seen as art for its handmade and intricate qualities, when fashion is exquisitely made, the beauty in its design may be considered by other as a work of art. • “it’s importance is energetic rather than extensive, there is a propagation from the detail to the ensemble, nothing can signify everything” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 243) • Steele values haute couture to be something seen naturally as art, for its handmade and intricate design. (Steele. V 2012, p. 13). • During the transition of fashion into the Museum space, fashion was considered to aspire to meet art’s high culture. • Fashion rejection of efficiency regenerated the creative ideas of designers, infused with a mass of references (Geczy. A 2012, p. 63). • “The designer’s collaborations with jewellery designer Shaun Leane could easily be viewed as pieces of sculpture” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion BoothClibborn Editions, London. p 15). MCQUEEN & CHALAYAN • VIVIENNE WESTWOOD - “blurred the edges of fashion and art” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 17) • She applied a delicate touch to embroidery in the ornamentation of clothing “convey intense emotions, painful memories and an underlying introspection and selfanalysis” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 17) • “haute couture is typically associated with flights of fantasy, excess, theatrical runway shows and exorbitant prices, its allure resides not only in the folly it represents but
•
also in the way in which it speaks to the idea of ‘the handmade’, characterized by hand sewing and pattern cutting” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 12) Bolton’s argument against critics – fashion is art – “it very deservedly has a place in the museum context because it taps into all of the other artistic references that other designers have used, particularly postmodern artist… it has contextualized fashion within a broader design environment” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 163)
• ASSISTED TO THE EXPASION OF THE INDUSTRIES : ENGAGING AN AUDIENCE IN THE ART WORLD, EXPANDING THE ATTENTION AND VALUE OF FASHION EXPANDING INDUSTIES, FINANCIAL GROWTH, ENGAGING AN AUDIENCE • • • •
• •
•
•
•
When fashion is exhibited in a museum with the surroundings of high-end art, it’s past market value it evolves into a piece of art in installation for all to see (Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012, p. 3 not only proven beneficial to the shaping of conceptual fashion, but also has heightened the popularity of art by engaging a larger audience. “Museums are filled with objects that once served what might be called utility functions but that now serve social, aesthetic, and/or ideological functions”. (Fashion and Art, Valerie Steele, 2012 p. 18) Steele analyses how a Balenciaga dress, made in fashion, when placed into the exhibition space becomes something more of art - “as fashion is presented internationally in galleries, museums, and in public spaces as much is to reflect on itself, and on people, bodies, ethics, aesthetics, and notions of beauty- the very stuff, in fact, that fashion is really made of” (Fashion and Art, H. Clark (2012: 74). When “the desires of those generations that are still true and relevant. As a result, the objects of the past are not important for themselves, but for what they represent” (Karaminas, v 2012, p.180). The millennium saw the transition of fashion into the museum placing it amongst ‘artistic content’, “broken numerous attendant records and sparked further discussion about role and place of fashion within artistic context” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 10) VISUAL SPECTICLE “its theatricality and grand gestures attract fashion and nonfashion audiences alike to museum exhibitions in order to experience an extraordinary visual spectacle” p 154 “fashion is also an art form that speaks to a universal understanding of the body” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 154) “the sight of a garment displayed on a mannequin triggers an automatic appraisal of the work as a potential purchase, a reaction unlike that normally elicited by other types of fine art” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 159) “inspired by the popularity of such high-profile exhibitions, fashion brands are at the same time increasingly styling their stories to resemble art galleries or miniature museums, blurring the line that once existed between art and fashion, or, in the view of some critics, between creativity and commerce” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 159)
• •
The museum space encourages an audience to engage, not only the authenticity of the designer, but also a curated vision of the designer’s intent. “This new museum visitor was not just a consumer of the artistic experience, she was a customer of the thing itself. Museum mile was soon including such other outlets as opuluxe shops, elegant dining, spectacles of all kinds, even including the midcult department store, which sold pieces of things called art” (J.B. Twitchell 2004 ‘The Museumification of Shopping and the Shopification of Museums’ p. 327)
• A NEW ERA FOR RETAIL, FASHION’S GROWTH AND EXPANSION TO EXTREME WEALTH, HIGH END FASHION. •
•
• • • •
• •
•
Not a response into wether fashion is art “an enquiry which suggests an implicit hierarchy, and a false assumption that Art is the condition to which fashion does,or should aspire. Fashion: frequently inventive, inspired, surprising, shocking and capable of producing true genius” (Greeves, Susanna. 2012 Collusion, BoothClibborn Editions, London. p. 2). "Witness the Louis Vuitton flagship store that opened on London's New Bond Street earlier this year with its Michael Landy kinetic sculpture, Damien Hirst monogrammed medicine chest and hugely successful bags designed in collaboration with Takashi Murakami"(Frankel S. 2010 Perfect match: How the crossover between fashion and art inspires creations on canvas and the catwalk). luxury brands have established and engaging relationship in supporting the arts, through the funding of projects and exhibitions. (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 10) “Changing the nature of fashion as we know it” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 10) “Fashion shows have since evolved to resemble… evocative museum presentations with equivalent didact labels and meanings” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 17-18) “The shows of designers such as Viktor & Rolf, John Galliano for Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen and Channel have rivalled the scale and expense of the world’s most ambitious operatic productions” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 18) HIGH CULTURE “exclusivity is equated with luxury, and nothing is so desired as that which has sold out” example of artistic collaboration led to luxury and limited edition FASHION AS AN EXHIBITION – MUSEUM SPACE, QUESTIONING IF FASHION IS ART, OR IN THE SPACE OF THE EXHIBITION, FASHION CAN BE COMMENDED FOR ITS INVOLVMENT WITH CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTS AND IDEAS ALSO FOR ITS ARTISTIC, COMMUNATIVE QUALITIES. AS FASHIION THEREFORE, ONCE PLACED IN AN EXHIBITION, SEEKS PRAISE FOR THE CREATORS ACHIEVEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY. FASHION BECOMING ART IS THROUGH ITS RANKING OF GREAT INDIVIDUALTY, COMMEMORATED FOR ITS CAPTIVATION, ALIKE ART, “a fashion exhibition is eye candy and ideas rolled into one” when placed in the space of an exhibition, a designers inspiration and intent can be displayed. (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 154)
•
• •
• • •
• •
how high end fashion of the 21st Century, with all its grand and extraordinary details, has transcended fashion to become something a spectacle to be admired, as is art. – “Audience demand for both aesthetic and intellectual content has been increasing steadily since the turn of the millennium, resulting in a plethora of fashion exhibitions in traditional art venues” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 154) “Often described as having more in common with art installation than the conventional catwalk presentation ” (Frankel S. 2010 Perfect match: How the crossover between fashion and art inspires creations on canvas and the catwalk). “products are displayed on plinths, in Perspex cases or artfully arranged on a wall in the manor of a salon hang, mimicking art curation as they offer democratic entry to its rarefied world” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 159) “These functioned not only as vital marketing tool but also as highly provocative performances in their own right” (Frankel S. 2010 Perfect match: How the crossover between fashion and art inspires creations on canvas and the catwalk). “The principle guiding the museum is the idea of singularity; the principle of the department store is abundance. The mu- seum says, “Don’t touch, you can’t have.” The department store says, “Please fondle, it can be yours.” Museum says unique, store says it’s part of an ensemble. But they are both about consumption” (J.B. Twitchell 2004 ‘The Museumification of Shopping and the Shopification of Museums’ p. 327-328). “the close relationship between art and fashion is increasingly reflected in the built environment” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248) “The modern department store and the art museum are now joined at the hip. They have always been close since they appeared almost simultaneously in London and Paris in the twilight of the nineteenth century” (J.B. Twitchell 2004 ‘The Museumification of Shopping and the Shopification of Museums’ p. 327)
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND THE DEVELOPMENTS IN MASS MEDIA EVERMORE EXPANDED THE FASHION INDUSTRY? MEDIA AND PUBLICITY • Barthes discusses fashion attention from media/magazines and its prominence in the technical advancements of mass production, in this sense, Barthes claims that fashion is unable to attain ‘poetic’ authorship “it furnishes no raw material to a psychoanalysis of substances… does not refer to an exercise of the imagination” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 236) • the internet has enabled so many to engage with fashion like never before, allowing the individual to be part of the direction of the aesthetics of the industry. • The advancement in the technical age, enabled cross pollination of ideas and concepts now more than ever. Fashionscapes, by this I mean the social media platforms in which fashion is displayed.
• • •
• •
• •
• •
Not only does the fashion industry benefit from technology as it is able to reach a larger clientele, but it is able to receive instant feedback from the consumer. The advancements in technology have created a mass media, such advancement has made it possible, or individual artist to establish themselves through the phenomenon that is the internet. the term ‘fashioscape’, describing the digital media in which fashion can be seen. YouTube, blog and twitter “have become increasing powerful and flexible formats for capturing, heightening, and transmitting the energy of collections and ideas around illusion and spectacle” (Karaminas. V 2012, p. 177-178). “Fashion thrives in diverse communicative cultural fields” ( Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012, p. 3). The general consensus is that there is still room in the market for both online and print content, yet the new media platforms have radically changed the fashion landscape they report” – fashion houses “now live-stream their seasonal runway shows, possible to an impatient global audience” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 18) NEW FASHION MEDIA – CROSS POLINATION OF FASHION AND ART IN THE FASHION MEDIA “At London Fashion Week you are just as likely to find Tracey Emin, the poster girl of Brit Art, or Peter Blake, the Godfather of Pop Art, sitting front row as you are a buyer from Browns or a twittering fashion blogger. The worlds of fashion and art have long been blurred along their borders” (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 11). “the internet has challenged the traditional hierarchy of fashion media providing an accessible and democratic platform for communication” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 204) Many now employ moving images rather than still photography for this purpose… traditional art and fashion photographers are increasingly experimenting with film as a medium” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 204)
EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT •
• • • •
FASHION ILLUSTRATION “a more traditional form of art-based fashion editorial, has also made a comeback in mainstream print publications such as Vogue which regularly features the work of a contemporary band of illustrators”’ (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 208) (practitioners - David Downton, Daisy de Villeneuve and Richard Grey) the internet has enabled so many to engage with fashion like never before, allowing the individual to be part of the direction of the aesthetics of the industry. “today’s fashion industry is geared up to produce the latest catwalk styles almost as soon as they are displayed” (Entwistle. J 2015, p. 134). The cross fertilisation of cultural fields, across blogs and magazines demonstrate how fashion has thrived in this technical age (Geczy. A, Karamins. V 2012, p.3). “Computer-based imagery and mobile media have brought another dimension to the circulation and understanding of meaning and its impact on audience reception” (Karaminas. V 2012, p. 180).
• • •
•
• • •
• •
•
• •
“granting access to a mass audience rather than by being regulated by elite groups and authorized media” (Karaminas. V 2012, p. 181). “the roles of fashion magazines, too, have changed as a result: their editors have become curators; fashion photographers are now film makers” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 204) “luxury fashion emporiums have been commensurate with the rise of online retail in the 21st century. The phenomenal success of internet-only retailers such as Net-APorter, ASOS… has made leading fashion labels recognize the importance of establishing an online presence; yet at the same time, the established brands are conscious of their customers’ desire for a ‘luxury’ experience that transcends the ordinary shopping experience” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 249) “aided by the development in digital technology… made film equipment more accessible to photographers and films themselves more easily viewed by online audiences, as well as the ride of platforms” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 204) The hierarchy and level of refinement has engaged an audience with creativity like never before. Jefferson Hack, Another magazine “characterizes the 21st-century fashion-media landscape as an arena in which ‘Photographers have become brands, stylists have transformed into artists and many magazines have emerged as contemporary exhibition spaces” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 209) “fashion labels themselves turn to art photographers and filmmakers in an effort to reach the widest possible audience through new forms of media” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 209) “these images, which acquire multiple layers of meaning from the fact of being both artworks and photographs of an artist, Marc Jacobs products themselves are almost an afterthought; the label simply acquires cultural credibility by association” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 225) MARC JACOBS & JUERGEN TELLER, ONGOING CAMPIGNS SINCE 1998 “Luxury fashion brands now regularly collaborate with award-winning architects to create unique retail stores, art museums and temporary structures to exhibit their goods. These architectural commissions are part of a wider 21st-century trend in which large luxury fashion conglomerates” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248) How was fashion exulted through the developments of mass media? “how much the mass distribution of Fashion magazines, which may be considered truly popular magazines, had modified the Fashion phenomenon and shifted its sociological meaning: by passing through written communication, Fashion becomes an autonomous cultural object, with its own original structure and, probably, with a new finality; other functions are substituted for added to the social functions usually acknowledged by vestimentary Fashion” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 277)
THE PROBLEMATIC NATURE OF CROSSING ART AND FASHION, A NEW ERA OF DESIGNERS HAVE CHALLEGED THE CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY. HIGH END FASHION, A SELF PRESERVING ROYALTY
A GARMENTS CONFORMATIVE NATURE TO EVOKE A PRICE, WHEN PLACED IN HIGH SOCIETY, IS OBJECTIFIED BY ITS COLISION WITH DECORATIVE PRACTICE OF A DESIGNER, FITTING ITSELF TO A SIMELAR RANKING OF A WORK OF ART. THE PROBLEMATIC NATURE OF ALIGNING FASHION WITH ART, IN FASHION FOUND AUTHORSHIP. • Fashion transitional nature and its expedition to change and develop fuels the mass market and consumer’s needs (Karaminas. V 2012, p.179). • “fashions tyranny was the way excess was flouted to those who has no means of affording it” (Geczy. A 2012, p 58). • Fashions nature to repeat and quick notion to change can be confirmed by the consumers need to ‘adapt and mutate’ (Karaminas. V 2012, p. 179) • • •
• •
•
This idea of mass consumption is associated with mass production and the concept of industrialization and modernity (Karaminas. V 2012, p. 179-180). Fashion impulse to grow and advance (Geczy. A, Karaminas. V 2012 p. 6) “Collaborations in the commercial fashion sphere has become synonymous with the luxury-store experience, making it almost impossible to buy a shirt or a bag or a shoe that has not been given an artist’s personal makeover” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 17) COUNTERFEITS – FAKES, HIGH TO LOW CULTURE ANDREW BOLTON “realizing how integral fashion is to contemporary culture” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 163)
MARGIELA “in 2012 the label collaborated with high street retailer H&M, the epitome of global mass-produced fashion, to produce a capsule collection of more wearable and affordable versions of some of the founder’s signature designers” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 40) “some observers branded the H&M collaboration an insult to Margiela’s original creative visions; others, such as fashion correspondent Fiona Duncan, saw it as a deliberate act of performance, ‘a continuation of Margiela’s funhouse-mirror reflection of the fashion system, an inside joke and an insidious proposal of protest, a statement on authenticity and mechanical reproduction”. Fashion designer Margiela’s ideas on authenticity, contradicting the fashion system and mechanical reproduction.
LUXURY BRANDS • “The imbrication of the two systems occurs at two points, on the one hand at the level of certain variants, on the other hand at the level of what have already been termed mixed adjectives. In passing, we have seen that certain variants, though the belonging to the denotative system [those elicted], or at least classified in the inventory of the first code (insofar as they are linked to variations of the vestimentary meaning [linked to the variations/advancements relating to clothing]), had a certain rhetorical value: for example, the existence of mark or regulation depends in fact on a purely terminological expression” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 237)
•
• • • • •
•
•
•
• •
“one detail is enough to transform what is outside meaning into meaning, what is unfashionable into fashion, and yet a ‘detail’ in not expensive; by this particular semantic technique, Fashion departs from the luxurious and seems to enter into a clothing practice accessible to modest budgets; but at the same time, sublimated under the name find, this same low-priced detail participates in the dignity of the idea: Likewise free, like wise glorious, the detail consecrates a democracy of budgets while respecting an aristocracy of tastes” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 243). “Fashion sets itself up, as it were, between the terminological level and the rhetorical level, as if it could not choose between the two” (Barthes, R.1990 The Fashion System, p. 237) Geczy discusses the problematic nature of fashion becoming something of the elite, fashion began its journey to a ‘liberal life’ it dominated a class that could afford it. of the role these designers played in the progression of fashion in setting trends and evoking a sense of creativity into fashion.this level of fashion has consistently been limited to those with money (Geczy. A 2012, p. 56). Fashion became something of social prestige (Entwistle. J 2015, p 44). “Collectors of expensive contemporary art wear and buy expensive contemporary fashion; there exists a mutual audience for these two genres that seems to parallel the blurring of lines among other creative pursuits apparent in wider contemporary culture” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 13) WHY DO PEOPLE BUY INTO LUXURY BRANDS? “That an object is well made, perhaps, but more specifically that is has been designed by an artist or handmade by an artisan; that it has taken time to make, and therefore hass value beyond its monetary price” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 20) “Louis Vuitton’s head designer Marc Jacobs initiated the practice in 2001 with Stephen Sprouse, and these initiatives have proved so successful that the practice of artist-collaboration has also been adopted by mass-market high street labels” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 17) “LVMH (owner of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Christian Dior) Kering (Saint Laurent, Gucci and Balenciaga) and Richemont (Dunhill, Cartier and Montblanc) – are increasing their involvements in the art world both financially as patrons and creatively as collaborators… started their own foundations in support of the fine arts, assembling impressive art collections and building museums to house them” “special commissions to contemporary artists, and funding promoting” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248) “Architecturally ambitious, the new fashion retail spaces are secular temples to good design and consumerism, place of worship for fashion’s followers” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248) “Fashion houses have the financial resources to hire the same high-profile architects who design landmark art museums… these fashion companies, with their private and independent funds, often have the fiscal freedom to throw caution to the wind in their pursuit of the ultimate architectural statement… an edgy, innovative and controversial design will become important creative capital for the brand” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 249)
• AUTHENTICITY
• • •
•
•
“In recent years giant luxury fashion brands have taken the highbrow highroad by aligning themselves with art” fitting the role of the modern-day philanthropist (Webb I, R. 2012 Fashion and Art Collusion Booth-Clibborn Editions, London. p 16) THE NECECITY IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE FOR THE UNION OF ART AND FASHION “contemporary culture, in which time itself is the ultimate valuable commodity, has generated a global craving for ‘authenticity’ that the union of art and fashion is uniquely able to fulfil” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 20) “Fashion houses have the financial resources to hire the same high-profile architects who design landmark art museums… these fashion companies, with their private and independent funds, often have the fiscal freedom to throw caution to the wind in their pursuit of the ultimate architectural statement… an edgy, innovative and controversial design will become important creative capital for the brand” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 249) A SIMPLE DESIGN IS EASY TO COPY, BY EMPOLYING MORE DETAIL AND REBRANDING ITSELF, VUITTON WAS ABLE TO ESTABLISH ITSELF ABOVE THE ‘COUNTERFIETS’ “George’s pattern, based on Japonisme and Art Nouveau designs, not only served to modernise the brand at the turn of the century but also to distinguish the house wares from its counterfeits, of which there were as many then as there are today” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 122)
LOUIS VUITTON COLLABORATION COMBINING OF PRACTICES WHAT GRAYSON PERRY WORK CAPTIVATES Conclusion UNDERSTANDING THE SEPARATE PRACTICES, THE MURGER OF THE TWO HAS RESULTED IN AN EXETENSIAL SHIFT BETWEEN THE MASS PRODUCTION AND HIGH END FASHION? • “Even the most rarefied of fashion designers is unlikely ever to describe him or herself as an artist” (Frankel S. 2010 Perfect match: How the crossover between fashion and art inspires creations on canvas and the catwalk). • A harmony between art and life, “between creativity and scientific modernism” (Müller, F. 2000 Art & Fashion, p. 5). • “the close relationship between art and fashion is increasingly reflected in the built environment” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 248) • “Fleury’s bronze Prada heels, too, are not wearable; they are transitory fashion given longevity and a value outside of the immediate financial transaction. In this context, might we not then view the work of some fashion designers as art” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 26) • DEIGNERS INSPIRED BY WORK • “I believe there is a line between fashion and art. They are two different disciplines. Nothing I do is art, but I draw inspiration from it and admire the way it allows my mind to think in new ways” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 109)
• •
“art opens boxes in my mind that I can’t open myself” (Smith, Mitchel O. & Kubler, A. 2013 Art/Fashion in the 21st Century, p. 109) FASHION AS AN EXHIBITION – MUSEUM SPACE, QUESTIONING IF FASHION IS ART, OR IN THE SPACE OF THE EXHIBITION, FASHION CAN BE COMMENDED FOR ITS INVOLVMENT WITH CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTS AND IDEAS ALSO FOR ITS ARTISTIC, COMMUNATIVE QUALITIES. AS FASHIION THEREFORE, ONCE PLACED IN AN EXHIBITION, SEEKS PRAISE FOR THE CREATORS ACHIEVEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY. FASHION BECOMING ART IS THROUGH ITS RANKING OF GREAT INDIVIDUALTY, COMMEMORATED FOR ITS CAPTIVATION, ALIKE ART,