English Version | Painted with the same brush

31 Oct 2023
By Pedro Vasconcelos

Arts Issue

The line between fashion and art has always been blurry. The questions that arise when a separation is necessary are impossibly subjective. Who was born first? Was it the needle or the brush?

At Schiaparelli's Fall/Winter 2023 Haute Couture show, the fourteenth look presented on the catwalk was the subject of online debate. A ridiculously voluminous coat engulfed the model wearing it, creating a nest made from white mohair threads. The coat's irregular, organic shape was broken up only by two wooden hands holding each other (a clever reference to the Maison’s history) and the model's head.

On TikTok, voices raised the usual questions: "Who would ever wear this?" "How is this clothing?" Like clockwork, these debates arise in January and July. As soon as the photographs of the Haute Couture collections are unveiled, the purpose of fashion is questioned. If some focus on the frivolity of designs from the likes of Daniel Roseberry, others applaud their creativity, likening the clothes to textile sculptures.

For many, the looks shown on the catwalks of Haute Couture Fashion Week are closer to works of art than the wool sweaters nestled somewhere in the confines of our closets. The distinction between art and fashion is difficult to understand. Where does one begin and the other end?

Let us trace the steps that have gotten us to this point. To do it we must analyze the role of Roseberry’s ultimate reference, the founder of the brand he steers, Elsa Schiaparelli. The Italian designer was one of the first modern voices to question the boundaries between fashion and art. If couturiers in the 19th century saw themselves as skilled artisans, their creations served a purpose that escaped artistic expression. Even the most ostentatious dresses of that era had a raison d'être: to affirm wealth as a symbol of superiority. Inspired by the artists Schiaparelli surrounded herself with, she dared to ask: "Can't the designer be an artist?"

Schiaparelli raised the question but left it unanswered. Over the decades, the complexity of the problem increased. The size of today's market makes the issue more complex. When profit is paramount, can a designer risk creating art? It seems as if artistic expression is second to more important things, like declining number of sold handbags.

In the 1990s, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen revived the myth of the designer as an artist briefly. Both had backgrounds that challenged the elitism of the luxury industry. Capable of appealing to different social strata other than the top 1%, accessories were sold as souvenirs of their artistic genius. The end of this era was consummated by the dramatic fall of both creators. But from the ashes of this incredible destruction, a parallel archetype of the designer as an artist was born. In today’s fashion industry, the designer is not an artist but a collaborator. The relationship between art and fashion has matured.

"I want my collaborations to start from the idea of juxtaposition," said Matthieu Blazy in an interview with Women's Wear Daily. The designer often collaborates with artists for his shows, like for the Spring/Summer 2023 collection when Blazy teamed up with the artist Gaetano Pesce to design the set for the show.

Speaking to Vogue Portugal, Pesce echoes the words of the French designer. “We found a simple way to understand each other and the work was easy to do and successful,” says the artist.

The show space designed by Pesce read as a colorful mix between an art installation and an Instagrammable playground. Vibrant puddles inundated the resin floors while rows of one-of-a-kind chairs framed the collection. The project, which marked the artist’s first new design in years, was later immortalized in an art book, also made in collaboration with the luxury brand.

The collaboration doesn’t just sit in the shallow waters of set design. “I understood that the collection showcased unusual materials, that was in a way a reflection of what I do,” says Pesce. Each chair was made out of resin-dipped cotton canvas that was later hand-drawn. These are, according to the artist, a comment on the “political meaning of diversity.”

Blazy isn’t the only one who has taped into the art world for collaboration and inspiration. Designers such as Jonathan Anderson or Maria Grazia Chiuri are essential to understanding the modern connection between fashion and art. The latter, in charge of leading Christian Dior's women's collections, has made collaborations with artists a habit. The Italian designer delves into the notion of collaboration, benefiting from it as a way of expanding her message.

Chiuri collaborates only with women artists, a choice that informs her design philosophy: the exploration of how the feminine in fashion is communicated as oppression. For the spring/summer 2024 collection the designer collaborated with Elena Bellantoni to create the NOT HER installation. Collaborate is the correct verb in Chiuri's case. "NOT HER came about because of the dialog between Maria Grazia and Rachele Regini, her daughter. We were all on the same page, ready to turn the mirrors, subvert the rules, and deconstruct the narrative tools of oppression," says the Italian artist.

In her work, Bellantoni explores feminism through macho iconography, in this case, advertisements from the 50s to the 80s. In the installation NOT HER, suggestive photographs of women accompanied giant slogans such as "My body is not a product. It's not a bargaining chip" and "I am not a space between your pages".

The artist elaborates on the message behind the installation, "The main theme is the female body, its commodification, and objectification. It's an attempt to free the female body from the semantic grids behind which it has been locked for too long."

Despite the success of the collaboration, the artist doesn't discard how challenging it was, reminiscing that "Maria Grazia chose one of my most complex works, something that took years to research." Bellantoni’s desire to collaborate with Chiuri is anchored in the similarity of their messages, albeit through different mediums. "I believe that both artists and designers can use their work to question the ideals of femininity and masculinity. Chiuri's creations focus on giving women a sense of autonomy and expression," says the artist.

Despite the political depth of her collaboration with Chiuri, Bellantoni isn't unaware of the benefits of working with a global brand like Christian Dior. "Of course the messages I pass on as an artist carry weight, but fashion allows me to be more efficient in reaching as many people as possible,” she states.

Beyond becoming a megaphone to established artists, the fashion industry has emerged as a breeding ground for new talent. Brands like Loewe are responsible for creating scholarships and schools to ensure the success of the next generation of artists. In 2021, the Loewe Foundation funded the creation of a cultural institute and studio that offers funding to artists.

The art world is a constant source of creativity for the fashion industry. Concerned with maintaining a permanent sense of novelty, fashion needs constant inspiration from artistic expression. The industry’s growth has made it one of the most profitable in the world, but unlike others, it has a depth that escapes numbers. Despite its capitalistic nature, the basis of its financial success is creativity. By collaborating and encouraging the art world, fashion establishes a mutually beneficial relationship, a symbiosis so perfect that sometimes the distinction between the two becomes impossible.

Translated from the original in the Arts Issue, published November 2023. Full stories and credits in the print version.

Pedro Vasconcelos By Pedro Vasconcelos

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