Wearing Art History: Western Fashion through the Ages As Inspired by European Art

Sofia Killion, Dominican University of California

Abstract/Description

Fashion is often seen as a frivolous craft which many believe to lack substance. Fashion, however, has for generations drawn inspiration from one of the very things that define culture and that is art. Some of the most successful fashion designers of our time have drawn inspiration directly from masterpieces of art. The Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972) was heavily inspired by his fellow countrymen including Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), and Francisco Goya (1746-1828). The Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce (1958-present) and Stefano Gabbana (1962-present) created a Fall 2013 collection that was significantly inspired by the Byzantine mosaics from the Sicilian Cathedral of Monreale. The American fashion designer L’Wren Scott (1964-2014) created a Fall 2013 collection entitled Allegory of Love, her inspiration for this collection was the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) “Golden Phase”, as well as his muse at the time, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave (1946-present) created a collection Splendour of the Medici which was life-size gowns made of paper that showed real fashion of the Florentine Renaissance. Through the analysis of exhibition catalogs, secondhand interviews, fashion collection reviews, and art history textbooks, this paper will show in what ways these contemporary fashion designers were inspired by these iconic artists and their artwork.

 
Apr 19th, 5:20 PM Apr 19th, 5:35 PM

Wearing Art History: Western Fashion through the Ages As Inspired by European Art

Guzman 111

Fashion is often seen as a frivolous craft which many believe to lack substance. Fashion, however, has for generations drawn inspiration from one of the very things that define culture and that is art. Some of the most successful fashion designers of our time have drawn inspiration directly from masterpieces of art. The Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972) was heavily inspired by his fellow countrymen including Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), and Francisco Goya (1746-1828). The Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce (1958-present) and Stefano Gabbana (1962-present) created a Fall 2013 collection that was significantly inspired by the Byzantine mosaics from the Sicilian Cathedral of Monreale. The American fashion designer L’Wren Scott (1964-2014) created a Fall 2013 collection entitled Allegory of Love, her inspiration for this collection was the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) “Golden Phase”, as well as his muse at the time, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave (1946-present) created a collection Splendour of the Medici which was life-size gowns made of paper that showed real fashion of the Florentine Renaissance. Through the analysis of exhibition catalogs, secondhand interviews, fashion collection reviews, and art history textbooks, this paper will show in what ways these contemporary fashion designers were inspired by these iconic artists and their artwork.