Tuesday 7 December 2010

FASHION: Blurring The Edges of Fashion & Art

Many of the new names to emerge on to the fashion scene this past year have displayed a strong visual inspiration from the art world. With painting, prints and composite looks they follow in the footsteps of designers such as Elsa Schiaperelli who was greatly inspired by the Surrealists.

One of the spearheads of the Art/Fashion movement in the UK is Scottish designer and graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art Iona Crawford who paints her Scottish rural surroundings, creating prints from them to use on her mix of linens and Scottish cashmere. Check her out here.

BFC NewGen Award-Winning, Dutch designer Michael Van Der Ham, who debuted at this year's September London Fashion Week, lists Any Warhol's composite dresses as a major source of inspiration. He is certainly one of the hottest-tipped new designers of the moment.  You can see more here.

Designs, from left, by Michael Van der Ham, Felicity Brown, Mary Katrantzou, Holly Fulton and Anthony Vaccarello. source: FT.com