Words - Taj Hayer

The fashion world has always been a natural ally to art. Now, more than ever the two are so closely aligned that clothes that are sent down the catwalk are now museum pieces and rightly so. Through the years we have seen Gianni Versace immortalize Marilyn Monroe in a jewel encrusted gown, Damien Hurst’s insect, spider and butterfly Alexander McQueen’s skull and so much more.

Having sat at numerous catwalk shows and seen beautiful, colour and art inspired pieces on show, we are often taken aback at just how much the art world is a constant source of inspiration for designers. To assist us in answering that question we had to approach an expert of sorts. That’s where Bianca Luna came in. Bianca is a Milan based fashion design graduate and the woman behind the incredibly successful Where I See Fashion blog. Her Tumblr page is a veritable encyclopedia of fashion and everything that inspires it, from art, design, nature, photography and more.  Her previous fashion and art matches of Agi & Sam, Raf Simons and Kay Kwok are what brought her to our attention and made her the perfect collaborative partner for this feature.

We worked with Bianca to look at key shows and how art has influenced them. Here’s what we found:

The show was a visual feast, inspired by fashion’s newfound love for the Far East. The intricate floral motif seen on these linen trousers are a perfect match to the same patterns found on the tiles of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Dubai.

Nature photography was a key influencer for the SS16 Issey Miyake collection. This striking two-piece features an image taken by Simon Butterworth, of the Shark Bat Salt Works in Useless Loop, Australia.

When we saw the McQueen show in SS16 of this year we were slightly obsessed with the monochromatic, geometric style suiting.  Now we can see that the print featured in this suit is a reworking of Riu-Kiu-C by Victor Vasarey (1960).

Although the artist behind this moody and atmospheric work is unknown, it is clear to us that it must have been a major source of inspiration for Donatella Versace when she was designing the spring collection.

Mark Rothko is known for his sublime use of colour, often fusing tones together to create a powerful and thought provoking work of art. His piece, No. 2 (Blue, Green and Red), 1953 is a great match to Kenzo’s comfy looking knit.

Architecture, as well as art are major sources of inspiration for designers today, and given the amount of travel involved in fashion, its easy to see why. Calvin Klein’s S/S’16 collection showed a masterful use of white and minimalist, much like the C1 House in Tokyo, Japan.

Kim Jones’ collections for Louis Vuitton are a consistent highlight of Paris Fashion Week. His last show featured a vibrant use of colour and this boxy statement jacket echoes the floor of the Red Bull Studios in New York, during the “Spaced Out: Migration to the Interior” exhibition.

The gradual and rather beautiful fade from black to grey that featured in the spring collection of Rick Owens was inspired by the series Controlled Burns by artist Kevin Cooley.

We are incredibly thankful for Bianca for working on these incredible matches for The Rakish Gent.

If you haven’t already explored Where I See Fashion we would urge you to do so, and to also follow her on Facebook and Instagram.