Is Fashion Art?
Art and fashion have influenced one another in modern times, but can fashion and art exist as a unified entity without losing their original purpose and value? This paper will examine 'Is fashion art?' by exploring our perception of the two fields through modern and traditional art principles used in fashion collections. In recent decades, hybrid fashion collections have dominated the art and fashion world, breaking the boundaries of their industries and progressing multidisciplinary styles.
However, is it possible for a fashion collection to be art? Can a hyper-capitalist industry such as fashion truly make pieces considered in style movements such as fine art? Can fashion truly meet the emotional and spiritual needs that art-inclined people find in the viewing and creation of artistry?
This paper will answer these questions by highlighting art principles both from a traditional and modernist approach, weighing up the artistic value of each collection and their most unique garment.
Alexander Mcqueen was a designer whose work reached people spiritually like fashion had never done before. His personal life and beliefs are personified in his work, breaking the boundaries of how we view fashion. Mcqueen's 1996 ready-to-wear collection, Dante, best explores his artistic abilities as a designer and the links and gaps between fashion and art.
The model bears a black mask on her forehead; in the centre lies a crucified Jesus. Her shirt has imagery of war and famine, while her denim jeans drip in bleach stains, reinforcing a sexual and dark atmosphere commonly felt throughout McQueen's career. (Ahmed, 2018) The unsettling atmosphere of the collection is further enhanced through McQueen's intense consideration of space, such as the scent of roses drifting in the air alongside rolling stones music mixed with helicopter blade noises. The clothes are controversial and unsettling as they play on social taboos such as piracy, criticism of the church, and triggering imagery. (Ahmed, 2018) This attitude is significant in postmodernism, which is known for being controversial and "challenging the boundaries of taste." These styling and aesthetic choices of the clothes also nod to postmodern principles such as anti-authority, scepticism, and suspicion of reason. ("postmodernism," 2017.)
Collectively, this imagery and styling are representative of the overarching theme of the collection, which is a criticism of religion. Mcqueen's objective was to taunt religious taboos and the abused institutional power of the Christian church, with him stating that "religion has caused every war in the world" (Ahmed, 2018).
Further use of postmodern principles to support his messaging is present throughout the collection, such as provocative stylings from visible boobs and queer gender roles to decorative animal materials. Utilization of external factors advances the postmodernist vision, with the collection highly challenging the audiences' tastes and moral comforts from a skeleton occupying the seat next to Vogue editor, Suzy Menkes, to the presentation of highly explicit fashions in a consecrated church (Ahmed, 2018)
Although Mcqueen's collection could be considered a masterpiece of postmodern art, his work does not reach the requirements of higher art. The lack of traditional art principles in modern fashion has been one of the main arguments against fashion not being art (Sung, B, K. 1998). The first criteria is a 'platonic sense' mentioned by Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher, as an enduring element that permeates and solidifies the emotional ecstasy that comes from viewing art. (as cited in Geczy & Karaminas. 2012). The other principle that the Dante collection lacks is 'aesthetic arrest' described by John Roman when explaining 'proper art'; as an emotional ecstasy so intense it does not create any secondary desires other than observing the aesthetic of the art. (Roman, 2017)
This gap between Alexander's work and traditional art principles occurs due to the function of fashion. Fashion is always in a constant state of flux, and although Dante is a creative feat of fashion and art combining, it is a ready-to-wear collection. Ready-to-wear collections are often victims of fast-fashion businesses, quickly replaced by the next latest fashion or overly plagiarized. (Geczy & Karaminas, 2012)
Both Boodro and Vreeland agree that the difference between fashion and art is due to function, with Boodro stating art is 'eternal' while fashion is 'ephemeral.' (as cited in Sung Bok Kim, 1998). The statement implies that art should function under a slow business model. Vreeland explains further that the difference is because fashion focuses on commodity and utility; in contrast, 'art is created 'for its own sake.' (as cited in Sung, B, K. 1998) with principles such as individual creativity, platonic sense, and aesthetic arrest are at the forefront of art function.
Even though the Dante collection lacks traditional art principles, the clothing is far more suited to postmodern art pieces, with exhibitions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Blockbuster Savage Beauty exhibition" in 2011, and "Heavenly bodies, fashion and catholic imagination" in 2018. (Ahmed, 2018)
Although the Mcqueen collection lacked expression of traditional art principles, this does not mean that fashion cannot meet traditional art standards. In Hussien Chalayan's fall 2000 ready-to-wear collection, Afterwords. He takes a contemporary and traditional art approach to fashion, breaking the boundaries of commodification and fashion through multidisciplinary storytelling and design.
The models wear a mixture of 1960s modernist and avant-garde sculpture clothing, filing in and out of the runaway, interacting with the surrounding stage as they progress an overarching narrative. The stage is spare, cream-white, and styled in an East European home setting. Behind a translucent window, the Bulgarian choir performs in the background (JB Villareal / Shoot Digital, 2000). The highlight of the performance comes at the end when one of the models briskly sets herself inside the centre of a glazed wooden table; she gracefully lifts the table as it unpacks in a swift motion into a structured cone-shaped skirt (Salibian, 2020).
Hussien's collection fits very much into the realm of modern and postmodern art, breaking the boundaries of fashion and performative art through technically innovative clothes that are both fashion and furniture, aligning himself with the experimental, avant-garde, and futuristic styles of the modern art movements ("postmodernism," 2017.) ("Modernism." 2017.).
Postmodern characteristics such as experimentation are most notable in Hussien's usages of performative art, focusing on music, setting, and performance to execute his storytelling and message. (Salibian, 2020)
His exploration of other fields, such as performative art, came from his interest in creating multidisciplinary work, often inspired by philosophy, science, technology, and history. ("Hussien Chalayan," 2014)
His Table-dress best represents his multidisciplinary outlook and abilities. Inspired by his background, he uses traditional art principles such as 'individual creativity' and incorporates modern art principles such as abstraction, innovative forms, and emphasis on the material to create a modern artwork like the Table dress ("Modernism." 2017). By combining these two art movements, he has created a garment that enfranchises a feeling of aesthetic arrest. By the table dress firmly focusing on aesthetic rather than commercial, he has created a performative art piece that Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue archive editor, describes as "this is a look that goes into the museum is exhibited, is talk about, is remembered, and the then the look next to it, is something you can wear," (TED archive, 2016).
Although performative art is more of a modern movement, it does have elements of traditional art, such as a 'platonic sense' created through 'aesthetic arrest' of the artist's action and viewer's experience. Although the performance only exists in a limited space and time, the emotional ecstasy of the performance endures in the viewer's memories and is unchanged by fluctuating elements such as commodity and utility. (Spivey, n.d.).
On the other hand, Caroline Evans states that fashion tarnishes performative art shown on the runaway, as the intention is to raise interest for commercial value. (as cited in Geczy & Karaminas. 2012) However, Hussien's Afterword overlooks the commercial by incentivizing traditional art principles such as 'aesthetic arrest' and 'platonic sense' through performative art; Hussien's artistic message is permanent as both a postmodern and traditional concept through personal experience. His collection questions how we see space inspired by his heritage in Turkish Cypriot of imminent attacks and what item to take upon being alert of sudden invasion, with the furniture to clothes transformation being a metaphor for this experience (Stansfield, 2016).
The Afterword collection proves that concepts such as 'platonic sense' and 'aesthetic arrest' can be a part of fashion collections. Hussien's multicultural identity uses his 'individual creativity' to create multidisciplinary pieces that aesthetically arrest an audience through performative storytelling and avant-garde clothing. He is a designer who can work both within fashion and art in a traditional and modern art sense. Hussien has also been readily accepted into art spaces throughout his career, regularly extending his ideas into museums and art exhibitions ("Hussien Chalayan," 2014).
This piece, dubbed on her website as 'distressed candy pink silk corset' is created using invisible tulle, silk organza, hand-dyed silk habotai, and silk cotton entirely stitched together by hand with the trailing process sketch notes shown on her website ("Second skins," n.d).
In the presentation of her work, she highlights a personal and spiritual relationship with her designs that corresponds with traditional art principles such as 'individual creativity.' This relationship displays itself in the presentation of her clothes, such as displaying her sketchbook notes, using herself as both the photographer and model, and mentioning her connection with the material used, "This silk habotai that this corset is made from is actually quite special to me. I have been carrying this particular piece around with me for years, and have used it in many of my experiments with the body." ("Second skins," n.d).
Alongside technical aspects such as presentation and material, the design itself is a vital part of what empowers her style to reinforce traditional principles. The clothes take a firm reference in traditional art styles such as pre-gothic beauty, with direct inspirations seen in her other clothing from her second-skin collection, such as reinterpreting fine art pieces such as 'The Birth of Venus' ("Second skins," n.d).
Indirect inspiration from fine art and pre-gothic beauty is her explanation of her aesthetic, "I would say my lingerie is unapologetically feminine. The pieces are soft, romantic, and colourful, and I love to use delicate silks and very feminine, sensual silhouettes." (Davidson, 2020).
As her style takes firm reference in traditional art aesthetics, such as "significant form, eternally beautiful, and spiritual in nature," (Geczy & Karaminas, 2012), her work also emulates the ideas behind the style, such as "individual creativity" and 'aesthetic arrest.' In creating this link between traditional art themes and her work, Michaela creates a postmodern message, as the ideas behind her clothes heavily challenge body norms and beauty (Baker, 2020).
Michela's struggles with body dysmorphia inspired her to redefine her insecurities into self-love by creating sculptured morphing lingerie pieces that accentuate parts of the bodies that are often stereotypically ignored or shamed. (Baker, 2020).
Postmodern thinking is evident in her work, communicated in her avant-garde expression of the body by experimenting with function and aesthetics. Her clothes take an anti-establishment postmodern approach by aesthetically challenging body image problems cultivated by the fashion and beauty industry.
Postmodern beliefs of anti-establishment and experimentation are developed further in technical aspects by Michaela employing couture techniques and standards in her work (Seward, 2021). Michela's focus on couture standards is displayed on her website, with imagery focusing on details and descriptions mentioning craftsmanship and complex techniques. ("Second skins," n.d) Although couture is known for its traditional belief in beauty and aesthetics, her work blends traditional couture style with experimental and anti-establishment postmodern thinking. She enhances areas of the body that traditional couture would find unpleasant. For example, the garment above displays a loosely fitted bra exposing the natural slump of the breast, in contrast to the often excessively elevated shapes seen in traditional couture (Seward, 2021). The stripes of fabric tugging against her waist are part of a front-laced corset that accentuates the shape of her stomach and are designed in opposition to the ridge and tight back-laced corset seen in couture (Seward, 2021). Although her work seems in opposition to couture beauty, her clothes use particular aspects of couture to enhance the artistic value of her work.
Couture references traditional art themes such as 'platonic sense' and 'aesthetic arrest' created by a consistent couture style, techniques, and standards that have not changed much over time (Geczy & Karaminas, 2012). The other characteristic of couture that Michaela uses is anti-commercial. By making singular, artisan, handmade lingerie, she is expressing unique pieces that do not conform to the commodity and utility of fashion. By doing this, Michaela deepens the relationship between the clothes, herself, and the buyer. We can see this relationship with her from the design to the presentation stage as she expresses herself in every part of her work ("Second skins," n.d)
Recently she has been trailing the term 'artists' (Baker, 2020), with her expression moving into other fields, such as photography, art, sculpture, and digital design ("Second skins," n.d). Her lingerie clothes have also been hung in art spaces. In collaboration with Alina Zamanova, a painter and sculptor, her works were exhibited at the Gillian Jason gallery in London at the end of 2020 (Davidson, 2020).
We have seen that fashion can use principles of art just as effectively as a sculpture or painting; it can meet spiritual and emotional needs and defy the trap of being just a commodity and utility. Nevertheless, this essay also clearly shows that fashion function is different from art; it is impossible to answer if fashion is art without redefining what art and fashion are. Thinking in black-and-white binaries like art or fashion will not end in a justified answer. The multidisciplinary collections discussed here lie in a liminal state on a spectrum of art, fashion, and others. They have passed the boundaries of their labels and are working with a what-if mindset, opening a new world of possibilities and fields.
