ART-342: Costume & Design

Art and fashion have been closely related for a long time and have grown ever closer in the modern era. It appears that in the 21st century the speed and frequency with which ideas flow between the two areas is accelerating, some clear evidence of which is Karl Lagerfeld's Spring 2014 show at the Grand Palais based on contemporary art references, a similar contemporaneous show in Milano from Miuccia Prada and collaborations between Raf Simons and Sterling Ruby). The common view of the art/fashion nexus is that the flow between the two is mainly uni-directional, that fashion draws freely on (sometimes illicitly appropriating) fine art and incorporates it into fashion garments in ways ranging from oblique references to near-exact reproductions. This view, however, is inaccurate: Though not as obvious, usually indirect and with specific examples less easy to cite, the flow of ideas and information from fashion to fine art is substantive and important. Fine art is not created in temporal and cultural isolation chambers: artists operate from within historical/geographical/cultural contexts and contribute to and are located within a 'visual' zeitgeist (to use Hegel's term). Nowadays the visual zeitgeist in which artists operate is a veritable universe composed of innumerable pieces of visual data relating to color, shape, pattern, scale, cultural references and more, with an ever-shifting geography of trends, preferences, hierarchies, innovations and terminations. This zeitgeist, though, is created not just by the output of artists but by the output of designers, of all types, all of whom are constantly making choices related to those visual variables: it is in fact an 'art/design zeitgeist'. Fashion is perhaps the single largest area of design, and certainly the area that directly affects most people; it is arguably therefore the most important of the design fields. By the nature of its product it is also the most dynamic area of design, in a constant state of innovation and flux, with an accelerated rate of turnover. Its contribution to the 'art/design zeitgeist' in every aspect, is enormous and its influence on all the other areas of design and on fine art is constant and deep. It is important for students of fine art to understand the connections between their own discipline and that of design, specifically fashion design, through the commonality of the same 'art/design zeitgeist'. A course on this topic should include sessions reviewing specific examples, historical and contemporary, of the art/fashion nexus, operating in both directions, as well as, perhaps, an overview of some of the related philosophical writings on the subject. Class assignments could include creation of fine art and/or fashion garments displaying influence from the other discipline. On a practical note, fashion designers are increasingly looking to recruit new employees with a background in fine art, finding that artists' creative instincts often give rise to original ideas that can effectively incorporated into new garment designs. This course could give fine art majors an insight into an alternative outlet for their training and skills.