The more I research on how art and fashion have influenced each other, the more I am enthralled with the sublime beauty of the creations that are born with such a collaboration. In this article, I explore more such partnerships which will serve as a point of revelation for you as much as they did for me.
Ben Frost x Moschino:
In 2018 the iconic super-fashion brand, Moschino, launched their Fall/Winter Capsule Collection in collaboration with the brilliant Ben Frost whose work subverts mainstream iconography from the worlds of advertising, entertainment and politics, to create bold and often controversial pieces of art. In their collection Moschino used these recognizable Frost artworks for their focus of the stunning new collection, playing into the kitschy pop-art theme of Frost’s work transferred to clothes, shoes and bags.
Sonia Rykiel x Maggie Cardelus:
The French house of Sonia Rykiel was established upon the pillars of family and free-spirited femininity, which have suffused its jolie sensibility since it was established in 1968. For Autumn/Winter 2016, the label – under the steer of creative director Julie de Libran – celebrated these values with a custom print, created in collaboration with contemporary Spanish-American artist Maggie Cardelús. The design comprised a series of intricate paper cut-outs which depicted the faces of the women at the heart of the brand, including its late, great founder Sonia Rykiel, her daughter Nathalie, and Nathalie’s daughter Lola, in addition to de Libran and Cardelús themselves.
Valentino x Nathalie Du Pasquier and George Sowden:
Two radically different reference points seem to anchor the autum/winter 2017 women’s Valentino collection. The restrained Victoriana co-mingles with the bold, poppy post-modernism of the Memphis Group, the Milan-based design collective, founded in 1981. According to Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, this was less a study in contrasts than an exploration of common themes. The works Piccioli chose for the Valentino collection come from two specific projects: a print series by Du Pasquier entitled Counting, and Sowden’s Designing without a Cause illustrations.
Celine (Hedi Slimane) x Christian Marclay:
CELINE launched its Christian Marclay Ready-to-Wear collaboration for Spring/Summer in 2019. The capsule collection had Hedi Slimane‘s clean-cut looks for both men and women get reworked with the pop art-style pieces from Marclay. Swiss-American artist Christian Marclay is best known for his Tate Modern-showcased piece “The Clock”, a 24 hour installation exploring time, narrative and cinematic history. Taking his hand to CELINE’s RTW line, the artist has added paintings and comic book collages to a full range of pieces, utilizing couture embroidery techniques, appliquéd patches and printing methods.
Hermès x Kongo:
Better known internationally by his pseudonym, Kongo, French graffiti artist Cyril Phan recently joined prestigious French fashion house Hermés for the label’s latest art-driven collection. Kongo worked with the label to create “Hermés Graff by Kongo,” a rather unconventional project for the French luxury brand that encompasses a range of silk scarves embellished with lively tag-style prints and patterns. Hermés also tapped the artist to reinvent its window displays with a unique artist installation for its Passeig de Grácia branch in Barcelona. Representing a unique and rare harmony between street art and high fashion, the Hermés Graff by Kongo collection will see a Fall/Winter 2011 release with the Kongo Passeig de Grácia window installation on display from now until October 23.
Text by Shalini Passi
