Art inspires fashion, fashion inspires art and we are inspired by them. Art and fashion are linked. No one can think fashion without thinking art. They’re so similar that we sometimes don’t see beyond the obvious. So let’s explore them… Art has a lot of artistic currents and fashion a lot of styles, fashion styles.Both are ephemeral, one day you like Picasso and another day you hate him, one day you like jumpsuits and another day you prefer skirts, one day you’re in, next day you’re OUT. This is a simple way to explain the cycle of trends. It’s more easier explain fashion trends than art, because in fashion existed two seasons, we have Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. In this two seasons we can see trends, trends that will influence the fashion industry.In art is more difficult to see trends. For example, the trend in art varies from season to season, there’s a change of trends between the Baroque period and Expression Art or even Impressionist Art. 

Art and fashion makes the world spin around the trends! The other way we can see the similarity between art and fashion is the creative process. For both, the creative process is more complex and enjoyable and the artistes go into a creative process where they have to make choices, process of choosing colours, materials, etc. And how the trends, the creative process, the materials, the colours influence your fashion? There’s another approach to explain the connection between art and fashion. 

Can you remember how people usually dressed during the Baroque period? 

People then had a completely different sense of style from today. Fashion in Baroque period was much stricter and women were more careful about their appearance but in a exaggerated sense. That period of art was marked by the exaggeration and in that way, art could have influenced fashion. 

Actually, we can see how art is able to influence fashion and how we can also describe our way of dressing up in our tastes for art. Another example, if you like the 60’s, you probably (and this is not a rule) like Art Pop and if you like this type of art, can you imagine your way of dressing up? This is the exercise that everybody should do, to know a little more about ourselves. 

Show me what you dress and I’ll tell you what kind of art you like! And the inspiration? 

Going back in time, some designers inspired by others artistes, for instance, Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs. She is inspired by art history and Jacobs by his visits to Art Museums. 

Viviane Westwood has a great sense of creative process. In all collections, she inspires in a time, decade or in an artistic current. The presentation of her Fall/Winter’12 collection, Viviane Westwood, was inspired by the 17^th century. 

The 17^th century was a century of great change and drama, it was the age of the amateur and of the rugged individualist and adventurer; in this century the British forged its national identity, not only politically but commercially. We can see the mix of cuts and the structure corset as a historical reference. She never forgets the details the make up and the hair are inspired by the romantic heroines. Viviane knows how to transform art in to a piece of our closet. Another example was the Fall/Winter’11 Marc Jacobs collection, where the grunge man came in to a king of the classic hyper feminine. “God created Woman” was the inspiration for this collection. Marc Jacobs said that he want to devote some time to think about the qualities, the beauty and the value of women. Is a collection that recalls the decade of 50, very decent, beautiful and we can see la dolce vita, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, all iconic women. He wanted to focus on the women quality and on the clothes too, because he wanted to show the different faces, colours and tissues which had been infiltrated by a kind of cinematographic look of the 50’s. 

This proves my whole theory about the course and the way we see fashion through art.

We can’t run away from them, but they can run behind us!!

How your art can influence your fashion?

Photographer: Mariam Sitchinava