“Fashion is art” is a common refrain throughout design houses and fashion weeks, particularly when observing the runways of iconic designers such as Dior, Alexander McQueen and Chanel. But despite the numerous comparisons, there is always a fine distinction drawn between ‘fashion’ and ‘art’; although both are admired, critiqued, and carefully scrutinized, the gowns of major fashion corporations are usually considered by the court of public opinion to be more suited to the glossy pages of Elle than the galleries of respected art museums.
Yet inside the circuits of these fashion houses, designers frequently take inspiration from these famed artists for their creations. Designer Alexander McQueen often utilised delicate lines and fluid fabric cuts to recreate the elegance of Impressionist and Art Deco works of the early twentieth century. His ‘Savage Beauty’ collection featured a pale green dress with forest green marbling and long, sheer-cut silk skirts heavily reminiscent of Monet’s most famous work, his stunning water-lily paintings. The headlining photo, which features the dress replicated three times, each with the skirt of the gown in motion, mimics the atmosphere of the water lilies collection in the Musée de L’Orangerie, where the goal is to completely surround the audience with the beauty of the work.
He also borrows from later movements, with his love of the Art Deco movement most easily seen in one of his shoe collections. The dark blue shoe, with its swirl-stretched sole and vine pattern around the stiletto, bears a heavy similarity to pieces like the Wisteria Dining Room and the entrances to the Paris Métro (the shoes also maintain the vibe that the plant vines are quite literally growing up around them – several Parisiens remarked that they found the new Métro entrances eerie when they were fi rst installed). Another one of his formalwear designs features bright gold leaves and plants on a cream background; the cheerful colours, nature-based design, and softness of the lines draw a parallel with Van Gogh’s ‘Daffodils’.
It also isn’t just Alexander McQueen who fills collections with inspiration from the first modern artists. Dior and Christian Louboutin are both known for their fascination with ballet in their runway shows, not unlike Degas. Dior features soft pastels and numerous layers of delicate fabrics, including tulle, in order to produce delicate gowns with lots of motion as the models walked. Degas himself declared that his obsession with painting ballerinas, his favourite and most well-known subject, came from his love of pretty colours and clothes in movement as they danced. Louboutin would also create a collection based around one of the most well-known symbols of ballet: a collection of pointed shoes, each featuring an impossibly thin stiletto heel and his signature red sole. As the beauty and grace of ballet and the clothes that made it possible had captivated Degas, so too do they captivate the designers of today.
The difference, therefore, does not lie in the critical validity of their works, nor in their passion for creation. The only distinct difference between the artists and designers is how they construct their art, be it on canvas or in fabric. Just because we have the rare opportunity to see them create such enormous volumes of work and to examine them so closely, unlike the cold separation that exists in art galleries, does not diminish the value of their creations. We should only consider ourselves so fortunate that we have this opportunity now; for someday, like the once-loathed Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh, they may indeed be seen only in museums
