Leveridged

The art in fashion is not a sentiment curious about whether fashion is art, but a notion of curiosity about the level of creativity presented within fashion, making it art. Questioning what makes clothing beautiful and fanciful, looking at the spirit that draws an individual to a garment, and the secrets behind the sales. Alta moda, or couture, with couture as the highest form, expresses itself through delicate, intricate handcrafted details made by artisans with specialised skills, in studios under the care and leadership of some of the world’s most creative minds.

As one would gently tend to a canvas, men and women in the ateliers tend to garments. As one would sketch a drawing, creative designers sketch their designs. 

The art in fashion is, as with anything beautiful, subjective, seen in the rise and fall of trends, along with shifts in silhouettes. There are minimalist fashions, maximalist fashions, and everything in between, suitable for many moulds, many lifestyles, and many moods.

Art can be found in the way a button is attached or the lack thereof, or in the way a dress drapes. It is referential to the natural and artificial world, to the past and assumptive to the future.

Art can be found in many instances of fashion, depending on how much it can be interpreted and intellectualised.

There are some fashionable creations produced clearly to be appreciated as art by the wearer, and a few creative directors are gifted with the gift of beautifully merging form and design, creating wearable art.

Sculptural, tactile, innovative, ingenious are a few ways to describe their talents when describing their creations.

Grace Ling is masterful in form, Jeremy Scott with whimsy, Dimitra Petsa in technique, Pucci with pattern and D&G with imagery and iconography. Each of them, designers, creating garments for the body; however, each incorporates the body within the design as something for adornment and decoration, showcasing the art in fashion openly. 

The question is not whether or not fashion is art, but how often art is found in fashion. Whether that be through form, technique, subversion or honest simplicity and how important it is for art to continue to be a pillar of fashion. Not always its distinction, but forever and always considered.