You’ve probably heard the phrase “art imitates life,” a million times before, but never has it rang true as much as right now. As time progresses and the fashion industry proceeds to create statement after statement, it gets pretty easy to predict cyclical trends if you pay cloe attention..
Of course you’ve heard about how that one designer is inspired by whatever the hell ‘urban aesthetics’ are for their collection or how that other creative director was influenced by some random time period you vaguely remember reading about in high school, or even how that guest designer fell in love with some random, possibly imaginary zen, lifestyle on their Eat Pray Love-esque trip to East Jesus; but hearing about these things over and over can get a bit boring.
What never ceases to peak my interest however is the material use of visual art and its placement in fashion. For some reason, every single time it’s done, it absolutely blows my mind when the creatives of the fashion world take note of the works of contemporary, modern, impressionist, and many other styles of artists and form intricate designs based on them.
Like, seriously, think about it: there are people who actually study every line and detail of thousand year old paintings then turn those into prints, patterns, and even hand-sewn fabrics. That’s a ton of work and it almost makes me want to cry thinking about wearing something with that much thought put into it. It’s beautiful, dedicative, and impressive all at the same time, and here are some of my favourite examples of that!
Aquilano Rimondi 2012 x Gustav Klimt
Yves Saint Laurent 1988 x Vincent Van Gogh
Raf Simons 2014 x Ruby Sterling
Louis Vuitton 2012 x Yayoi Kusama
Dolce & Gabbana 2013 x Cathedral of Monreale Mosaic
Carven 2012 x Hieronymus Bosch
L’Wren Scott 2013 x Gustav Klimt
Rodarte 2012 x Vincent Van Gogh