EDITOR’S LETTER
The complex yet compelling relationship between fashion and art, which we explore in more depth in this issue, has long been at the heart of Harper’s Bazaar. For this is the magazine that has published Chagall and Cocteau, and where Andy Warhol started his career as an illustrator. Even in my time as editor (a little more than six years; a relatively brief period for a publication that was founded in 1867) – our contributors have included Tracey Emin, Bridget Riley, Maggi Hambling, Gillian Wearing and Yayoi Kusama; while our latest cover story was shot at the spectacular Yves Klein exhibition at Blenheim Palace.
But of course, the links between artists and designers go far beyond their shared landscapes, whether within the pages of Bazaar, or at the museums and galleries that have been the setting for several of this year’s most exceptional fashion shows (from the Louis Vuitton Cruise collection, staged amid sculptures by Miró and Giacometti at the Maeght Foundation, to Roksanda Ilincic’s choice of the Serpentine Pavilion as the venue for her recent presentation at London Fashion Week).
We are truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to discuss these associations with three of the world’s most revered and successful designers: Nicolas Ghesquière, the artistic director of womenswear at Vuitton; Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s creative director; and the legendary Miuccia Prada (whose interview appears in our accompanying Bazaar Art magazine). What they share is a profound love of art, which seems woven into their brilliant command of fashion. Indeed, Mrs Prada has chosen to make her favourite artworks available to public view, in the globally renowned Prada Foundation in Milan, where she also presented her A/W 18 collection in a newly opened exhibition space; a show that I found just as intriguing as a
piece of performance art. Each of this trio displays a complete dedication to their craft as designers, and are as original as the artists that they admire; yet none of them suggests that their work should be regarded as art. For all their modesty in this regard, one can only marvel at the consummate artistry of their creations.
With this in mind, it seems timely to look again at the work of Anni Albers, whose woven tapestries are being celebrated in a new exhibition at Tate Modern. As becomes evident in Frances Hedges’ story on the artist (page 220), Albers’ work crossed the traditional boundaries between art and craft, and perhaps as a consequence, she did not receive the recognition she was due during her lifetime. She died in 1994, having sought to bridge the gap between different creative media; though as she noted in 1984: ‘I find that, when the work is made with threads, it’s considered a craft; when it’s on paper, it’s considered art.’ How wonderful, then, to see finally her masterpieces on show in London, and to discover the influence she has had on contemporary designers, most notably Roksanda Ilincic. So here’s to the continuing pursuit of what Anni Albers described as ‘visual refreshment’; in other words, our innate capacity to appreciate art in all its myriad forms.