Why fashion houses have become the new Medicis of the art world
Luxury brands are pouring money into art. As Melissa Twigg explains, it’s a savvy move for all involved
In 1965, the fledgling Yves Saint Laurent brand was trying to make a name for itself in an increasingly competitive Parisian marketplace. “I was stuck in a traditional form of elegance,” Yves Saint Laurent himself once said of the period. “I told myself, ‘I can find better.’”
“Better” meant turning to art. Weeks before releasing his collection of classic evening gowns, Saint Laurent decided to include a couple of cocktail dresses inspired by a book his mother had given him on the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.
“Iconic” is a horribly overused word, but the resulting designs were exactly that – and they propelled not only Saint Laurent and Mondrian to far greater fame, but forever altered the connection between fashion and art.
“I always say that the marriage of art and fashion is where popular culture is defined,” says Viola Raikhel, the curator and co-founder of the ap8.art platform. “That dress transformed a painting into an animate work of art and was so successful that people who had barely heard of Yves Saint Laurent or Mondrian recognised it.
“We tend to think moments like this only exist in a luxury sphere, but I actually think the Mondrian dress was the catalyst for fashion becoming ‘high street’, as it was one of the most replicated pieces of the last century.”
The idea that fashion and art can’t only be comfortable bedfellows but can propel each other to greater fame (and bigger financial rewards) is still going strong nearly 60 years later and is, indeed, evolving. Last week, it was announced that Net-a-Porter will introduce an art section to its successful high-fashion platform, and is in partnership with the fine art e-commerce venture ap8.art to do so. The first collaboration will be released in May and feature 10 framed photographs by French artist and fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, to be followed by releases every three months from a selection of different artists.
“Guy defines the art form of fashion photography – he is now the most coveted fashion photographer in the world so he was the ideal choice,” Raikhel says.
The idea for this collaboration came from ap8.art, which pitched it to Net-a-Porter as a way of bringing their customers into the world of art collection. Both parties are aware that, even more than fashion, art can feel like a closed and often daunting space, while the lack of regulation and astonishingly high prices can put people off. Although buying art online feels less intimidating (nobody is asking you for your opinion on a painting), it can also feel less curated. This space is designed to be a safe entry into art collection for anyone who can afford it. The benefits for ap8.art are clear, while for Net-a-Porter, the collaboration allows it to publicise its growing “home” section. Selling work by an artist as renowned as Bourdin gives the platform the heft that shoes, bags and cushions alone do not.
“People are looking to buy everything from beauty to clothing and now ‘home’, and art felt like the missing part of the puzzle,” says Lea Cranfield, chief buying and merchandising officer at Net-a-Porter. “We wanted to equip them with the tools and knowledge to shop for art confidently.”
This commercialisation of art by a fashion platform is simply the latest stage in the symbiotic relationship between the two industries. But recently the fashion industry has moved from being a mere collaborator to something closer to a patron of the art world.
A hundred years ago, the average patron would have been a rich individual; now they are largely fashion conglomerates. This is particularly true in Europe. Frieze Art Fair was partly sponsored by Matches Fashion, while at the Venice Biennale, Bottega Veneta supported a series of contemporary dance performances, Dior held a gala to save Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton held an exhibition for German artist Katharina Grosse.
Nearly all the private art museums opening in Europe are also financed by fashion. The Fondazione Prada and the Bourse de Commerce in central Paris are just two; the latter was launched by François Pinault, owner of the luxury conglomerate Kering, as a direct competitor to the Fondation Louis Vuitton in the Bois de Boulogne.
This symbiosis is now even having an effect on individuals, with major players jumping ship from one industry to the other. Yana Peel, for example, left her job as head curator of the Serpentine to work as Chanel’s global head of arts and culture (a position that previously hadn’t existed). And fashion designers are always keen to show their artistic roots: Roksanda Ilinčić and Christopher Kane have worked as artists themselves, and Victoria Beckham even hung a few Old Masters at her most recent catwalk collection.
“Art gentrifies luxury fashion and gives it a universal language,” says Luca Solca, an analyst at assetmanagement company Bernstein. “Many brands run into problems when posting on social media in the USA and in China. Different constituencies get offended if brands appear not to be sensitive to them. For example, a photo from Dior depicting a Chinese woman in traditional attire was criticised because it was seen as insensitive to how Chinese women have evolved. Art is [in most cases] inclusive, and less prone to communication incidents.”
Art, in other words, tends to have a free pass when it comes to looking at various cultural moments, whereas fashion does not. Equally, any brands that align themselves very closely with celebrities can, in the post-MeToo era, often find themselves in hot water if a scandal breaks. Art gives them all of the status with far less of the risk.
“There are so many opportunities for fashion brands and artists to collaborate in the physical world,” says luxury commentator Mario Ortelli. “But in the future we will see an even greater relationship being built in the digital world as brands create online content with artists and expand into making NFTs [non-fungible tokens].
“Ultimately, the idea of being a patron of the arts taps into the exact values fashion brands want to assert, while the artists want their money and publicity – so these relationships will only grow with time.”
‘Fashion can run into sensitivity problems – art is less prone to that.’ All of the status, but less of the risk