When Fashion meets Art

Art and fashion have a longstanding relationship and the collaboration between them is by no means a new phenomenon. For example, in 1965, Yves Saint Laurent created a collection of six cocktail dresses that were inspired by the paintings of Mondrian. Gianni Versace‘s 1991 Pop Art collection featured a jewel-encrusted dress stamped with Marilyn Monroe’s portrait by Andy Warhol. In 2013, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the skull scarf, Alexander McQueen presented an exclusive collaboration with Damien Hirst consisting of 30 one-off scarves.

But in this post I don’t want to speak about how art translates into our wardrobes, I would rather focus the attention on monumental places which can become the perfect setting for catwalk shows.

For its 90th anniversary, Fendi staged one of its most breathtaking shows ever - a clear plexiglass runway laid on Rome's iconic Trevi Fountain. Fendi had sponsored the restoration project of Trevi fountain to preserve Rome's landmark.

Louis Vuitton presented its cruise 2017 collection at the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Museum was transformed into a show space, with models walking down the building’s red ramp and around its outdoor plaza. I’m fascinated by how fashion can be integrated with art and landscape!!

For its Fall-Winter 2017 show in Paris, Louis Vuitton took over the Musée du Louvre with the models walking among the artworks. Once again, Louis Vuitton created an unforgettable collaboration of art and fashion.

But, unfortunately, not everybody agrees that art and fashion should mix together.

Last year Greece rejected a request by Gucci to hold a runway show on the Acropolis of Athens even though Gucci offered to pay for restoration works. The justification was that the unique culture of the Acropolis is not suitable with this sort of event. However, it would have not been the first time that the Acropolis would have served as a setting for a fashion event. In fact, in 1951, Christian Dior chose the Acropolis to photo-shoot his latest fashion collection in front of the Caryatides.

A controversial fashion show was that launched by Gucci for its 2017 cruise collection at the Gothic 13th-century cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Many people considered the event profane and embarrassing. I agree that the context is a little weird for a clothes show but I think it was totally magical. London itself is a city of contrasts where the contemporary merges with the past.

The next event in which we will see how successful the match between Fashion and Art can be is Louis Vuitton’s next cruise collection show at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. We all look forward to this event on May 14th! Don’t miss it!

xoxo

Flaminia

#Catwalk #Kyoto #Paris #Rome #RiodeJaneiro #LouisVuitton #Fendi #Gucci