ISSUE No. 8: The Uninhibited Art of Fashion


This week we asked all the designers featured to send us mood boards, in order to convey how art and artistic elements play a role in putting together the building blocks of a collection.

Since the dawn of mankind, how humans have draped their bodies has helped historians piece together the cultural, societal and environmental changes over different epochs. Archaeologists have been able to define ancient civilizations by unearthing pieces of armor, artistic burial vestments, headpieces, mosaics and jewelry.

And for this, history has proven that fashion has always been influenced by art, and art has often been influenced by fashion.

From street wear to couture, art is often the starting point for many designers.

Yves Saint Laurent made Piet Mondrian’s primary color block prints famous through his 1960’s era shift dresses. More recently, spring 2014 womens collections, for example, referenced artists in a direct way: Prada looked to political Mexican muralists for its vibrant ready to wear, while Aquilano Rimondi took a more somber tone and plastered Paul Gauguin’s Impressionist-era island paintings on their architectonic, luxe silk looks.

Artists, however, rarely design collections themselves mainly because mainstream brands are under pressure to craft wearable garments within the confines of a strict budget.

But since artists influence the silhouettes, patterns and textures of the clothes we wear so often, shouldn’t they be directly credited?

This week we feature a few designers who think of outside of the box and are uninhibited by mainstream trends. We also feature Parisian artist Eloi Derôme, a painter who is breaking into the fashion scene and is a modern-day example of an artist who has the potential to inspire designers.

RRUNA, a Rome-based brand run by two women with roots in intellectual property and art management, commissioned the performance artist, sculptor and painter Franko B to design their first collection.

With his work featured in the Tate Modern and Victoria and Alberto Museum, Franko B. has made an impact on the art scene from here to Moscow. Now, we see that an artist, with the right business and sartorial guidance, can indeed take full credit for his or her designs.

Simple, reversible and interchangeable designs intertwined with Franko’s tormented sense of realism through symbols like the red cross, boxer gloves and bandaged wounds are indicative of the ongoing human struggle and fashion’s fight for survival.



ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Eloi Derome: Haute Parisian Painter,  Helen Nonini: A Milanese MuseRRUNA: The Artist’s Vision, Fashionable Allegory Italian Avant-Garde, Made in LA, Nadiamari: Wearable Mosaics


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