Across Art and Fashion opened in Museo Salvatore Ferragamo Florence in May 2016; An exhibition celebrating the sacred relationship between Art and Fashion. I was swept up on a journey through the great moments of fashion and art history, seeing pieces I'd only ever come across on a page in a fashion book, like the famous Yves Saint Laurent cocktail Dress Piet Mondrian or the Schiaparelli Lobster Dress.
The collection illustrated the ways in which fashion and art have existed in tandem and celebrated those creative practitioners who have danced across the boundary that separates them. Six years on, in a rapidly changing creative world, the exhibition Across Art and Fashion has both illustrated the timeless nature of its concept and provided me with a marker in time to reflect on what has changed.
Coming off the back of the various fashion weeks around the world, my phone has been filled with the fabulous and unusual shows that were presented. With everyone searching for that viral moment, subtlety was clearly not anyone's goal. One of the most notable of these was the spray-on dress of the Coperni Show at Paris fashion week, modelled by one of the biggest models of the moment, Bella Hadid. This snapshot of the week seeped into the various channels of communication that link our world; the specific moment of that show hosted not just a dress and a supermodel but a global conversation that went beyond the fashion community.
The dialogue included science, technology, performance art and, of course, fashion. The dress itself was simple, a white, figure-hugging slip, but as Jessica Testa from the New York Times points out, "the point of the dress was the drama of its creation — in line with fashion's rich tradition of live-on-the-runway showmanship." Throughout the decades, fashion runways have been a space to express the inspiration and context of the designs, giving the audience a curated universe to enter as they are introduced to the collection. It is just as much about the experience as the outfit.
Within the exhibition Across Art and Fashion, the point of performance within fashion and art explored the inclusion of Andy Warhol. His work was deeply personal and transcended the realm of one medium, including photographs, prints, paintings, videos, clothes and experiences. He went beyond only creating external expressions of creativity and used dress and performance to build a persona around himself; as Rees-Boberst (2016) points out, "Style was clearly integral to his self-performance and self-promotion."
In the six years since the exhibition debuted, technological advances in our world have shifted how fashion is expressed and consumed; the Coperni spray-on dress is a beautiful example. It was a moment at fashion week built just as much for the world as the guests sitting front row. Shared and critiqued across the internet, WDD estimated, "In the 48 hours following the show, the media impact value of the moment was measured at $26.3 million, including $20.9 million on social media." Considering these figures, the question is raised, was it a moment in fashion created for that viral impact or simply the effect of a fantastical fashion show using technology to create a new type of fashion experience?
Coperni went beyond showcasing clothes on a catwalk and explored new ways fashion can interact with other creative mediums and engage a wider audience in conversation. As much as it was a moment of fashion, it was also one of technology, performance, and art, and it illustrated how designers are constantly transforming in response to the modern environment that fashion has grown within since the 2016 exhibition.
Walking down a skinny staircase under the streets of Florence, entering the museum, I felt as if I was walking into a special little fashion universe. The exhibition explored the relationship fashion has had with art and how designers and artists have drawn reciprocal inspiration from each other and their environments. It seems fitting that Florence is the host for this conversation; being the home to creative masters of both fashion and art, from artist Sandro Botticelli to fashion designer Guccio Gucci.
Throughout the exhibition, a fashion designer's work used to demonstrate this relationship was that of Elsa Schiaparelli. Originally Italian, she settled in Paris in 1922, going on to produce work that "throughout the 1930s... caused a riotous sensation, season after season" (Baxter-Wright, 2012).
Schiaparelli's designs shocked and delighted her audience in equal measure; she was "a provocateur who took pleasure in challenging typical notions of dress" (V&A). Her inventive use of colour, texture and silhouette was a new phenomenon for women's fashion in the 1930s, leading her to closely rival the revered French designer Coco Chanel.
Throughout her career, Schiaparelli's designs constantly challenged the then-rigid rules of fashion design and often swayed toward the surrealist art of her time. She provided a framework for modern fashion and is esteemed as one of the century's most influential designers. Across Art and Fashion explored her consistent and extraordinary collaboration with surrealist artists Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Christian Bérarand and Alberto Giacometti.
Some pieces included her famous Lobster Dress, designed in 1937 in collaboration with artist and friend Salvador Dali, for Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. The dress intended for a pre-wedding photoshoot was anticipated to get Simpson back into the good graces of public opinion after King Edward VIII's abdication. Because she had an established relationship with Schiaparelli and trusted her with her wardrobe, the choice was a natural fit. The dress, however, did not have the desired effect; with Dalí on board, the outcome was more provocative than expected. "The lobster had been painted on the front of the silk tulle gown as planned, but it's placement was more daring than perhaps Wallis had envisaged. It began just below her hip bone with the tail of the lobster covering the most delicate area of her anatomy" (The Windsor Style, 2020). This somewhat sexual connotation created by the lobster's placement caused uproar in public conversation, with images of The Duchess in the Lobster Dress appearing on every corner newsstand around the world. Within the exhibition, the dress was described as not only a radical partnership in art and fashion but also tied to a notable moment in the history of celebrity culture, signalling the significance these pieces can have in wider contexts.
Pieces like the Lobster Dress and relationships like Schiaparelli's with Dalí and the Duchess speak to the notion that Schiaparelli was blurring the boundaries between art, fashion and culture and creating her original version of what fashion meant to her. Her "connection with the wider art world and its ideas set Schiaparelli apart from most other fashion designers" (V&A · Elsa Schiaparelli, n.d.).
Schiaparelli is now, once again, one of the most current and forward-thinking fashion houses. After its closure in 1954, it was left dormant until it was bought in 2006 by Diego Della Valle. American designer Daniel Roseberry is the current creative director and "has, in less than three years, transformed Schiaparelli into the hottest couture house in the world, capturing the attention of fashion editors and buyers, with his otherworldly, era-defying (and perhaps, defining) designs" (Sams, 2022).
An example of how the modern Schiaparelli, led by Roseberry, has continued the fashion house's legacy to shock was Bella Hadid's red carpet moment last year at the Cannes film festival. This full-length, long-sleeve wool dress had a plunging neckline that sat just below her bust and was adorned with a spectacular golden neckpiece that resembled tree branches and was inspired by human lungs. The moment sparked headlines of adoration around the world "A PEEK AT BELLA HADID'S (VERY) DARING LOOK – AND OF COURSE IT'S SCHIAPARELLI" (Grazia Mag), which have helped to place Schiaparelli back in the centre of fashion's spotlight.
Schiaparelli herself took delight in the shock value of her work, with her autobiography titled "Shocking Life". Since Roseberry's appointment, there has been a Schiaparelli stir in the fashion news cycles following every fashion week and red carpet debut. Roseberry speaks to his vision, "When clothes and craft and hair and music and the wearer are in harmony together, when they are all trying to communicate something, we can be reminded why we love fashion" (Maison Schiaparelli - Spring-Summer 2022 Haute Couture Collection, n.d.). The positive public response to Schiaparelli's return is partly because of the incredible creative foundation set by Schiaparelli herself and also the impeccable design instinct and connection of Roseberry to the label.
After a 60-year hibernation, Schiaparelli has returned to our fashion conversation with full force, their runways appearing all over Instagram and red carpet couture adorning the likes of Hadid, performer Lady Gaga and cultural icon Kim Kardashian. With the reopening, the label has continued to uphold the legacy of Elsa, celebrating her fantastical vision that appears in the marriage of surrealist art and the human form; Roseberry has managed to capture the kooky energy of Schiaparelli's creativity while bringing it into today's fashion conversation. This comeback speaks to the power of Schiaparelli's design DNA and the allure that Elsa created through her engagement with the wider creative community.
As Across Art and Fashion took place at the internationally renowned museum Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, it was no surprise that the work of Ferragamo was featured throughout. His career, like that of Schiaparelli, has been revered for its influence on modern fashion's trajectory. A shoemaker born in Bonito, Italy, 1898, Ferragamo began his shoe-making journey at the young age of nine when, after his parents could not afford to buy him a new pair of white shoes, he set about making them himself. At 16, he boarded a ship to the United States and, in time, moved to Santa Barbara, California, to pursue his ambition to create the perfect shoe. Ferragamo studied the anatomy of the foot at university and gained a deep understanding of the craft of a comfortable shoe, quickly making his designs the most desirable on the market( Seabastin, 2022).
A Ferragamo shoe that appeared in Across Art and Fashion was the Tirassegno suede pump, which is featured as the hero image of the exhibition. Designed in collaboration with American artist Kenneth Noland, it features the circular motif in his Untitled paintings from 1958. This piece speaks to the inspiration Ferragamo drew from creative work around him and provides insight into his design process, being just as ascetically driven as it was technical. Ferragamo is famously quoted as saying, "Elegance and comfort are not incompatible, and whoever maintains the contrary simply doesn't know what he's talking about" (Audrey Hepburn & Salvatore Ferragamo, n.d.). It is this attitude that made his work so extraordinary.
The exhibition also detailed Ferragamo's shift to Hollywood, his shoe designs first finding their way into the costume departments of the budding film industry and then into the wardrobes of the movie stars appearing in them. His rapid rise to popularity stemmed from his relationship with the silver screen's elite, and it seems it was also a driver for inspiration; "His biggest creative stimulus ... was his demanding and glamorous clientele and their extravagant wishes" (Fossi, 2021).
While Ferragamo's success has been, in part, attributed to his Hollywood connection, it is evident from the display that his designs were revolutionary in modern fashion's trajectory. Ferragamo was responsible for designing shoe styles that are common today, including the contemporary platform heel; an example of this is the Rainbow Sandals he designed for Judy Garland in 1938. Made from coloured kidskin leather and a layered cork sole, the shoe featured an 8.5cm heel, which added welcome height to Garland's 4-foot-eleven frame. "Ferragamo's rainbow heel will go down in history as an innovation that keeps on giving." (Mugrabi,2020.) His design for Garland has informed an entire genre of heeled footwear, which is considered equally comfortable and stylish. Coined 'shoemaker to the stars,' Ferragamo's relationship with celebrity influence throughout his career is one familiar in today's fashion landscape.
Like Ferragnao, another creative who was no stranger to rich and famous was that of Andy Warhol. An artist renowned for blurring the lines between creative mediums like art, fashion, film and performance, as well as his unique relationship with celebrity. Born in 1928 in Pittsburg, he grew up in a religious family and would "describe himself as self-educated, a widely accepted claim." (Acocella,2022). He began his career as a commercial illustrator in New York; his talents were often utilised in women's fashion advertising, and he did well for himself. The creation of Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can work in 1962 marks not only the start of a successful fine art career but also the birth of a new style of art entirely, pop art, with Bald (2022) stating that he "took his knowledge in commercial art and brought it into the fine art world."
Through this period of art history, Warhol explored a variety of subjects, from Coke bottles to Marilyn Monroe, to the Vietnam War. The Death and Disaster series, which spanned between 1962 and 1967, marked a significant moment in that era. "Warhol's series effectively articulated the end-of-the-world anxiety that gripped the United States during the Cold War era, particularly in the 1950s and early 1960s" (Collins,2016). While these subjects all came from very different parts of American culture, Warhol was known for depicting scenes of familiarity for his audience. This avenue was at times shocking and controversial, but it always succeeded in connecting with the audience and often striking emotional responses.
With the growth of his professional success also became a sort of celebrity status for Warhol himself. This shift into the public eye allowed him to build his own network of the creative and famous, which manifested in a loft space in New York, called the Factory. Throughout this period of his career, Warhol had various creative outputs, one of them being the release of the now iconic publication Interview Magazine, which made its debut in 1969. "What Interview became, over the decades, was unmistakably Warholian: a celebrity magazine as an art object, in which fame was the raw material" (Schulman,2018). The magazine spoke to the social culture of its time, commenting on fashion, art, film and, inevitably, celebrity. Known for its fabulous covers, Interview depicted icons from all corners of fame, including the likes of Diana Vreeland, Robin Williams and Madonna.
The exhibition explored Warhol's diverse and all-encompassing approach to his work. It used Interview Magazine within the conversation of art, fashion, and the seemingly inevitable influence of celebrity within that dialogue. Woven throughout Warhol's career is the appearance of names the whole world knows; found within his art, film, media and friendship groups, Warhol positioned himself at the centre of celebrity culture of the time.
Warhol is, in part, responsible for the initial inclusion of a celebrity voice within creative conversation. "The magazine's patented celebrity-on-celebrity dialogues compounded the formula, like mixing colors on a palette." (Schulman,2018). This formula is a standard of common practice in today's creative world. The most powerful trendsetters in our media are, arguably, not artists and designers but public celebrity figures like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna. Is that because they have good taste or because they have built a public persona that the masses like to listen to? And more so, what is the difference? Who gets to decide?
Throughout my exploration of Across Art and Fashion, I have detailed some iconic moments in fashion's history and how they have been inherently linked with art, placing them in the same conversation. What I have also uncovered is the parallel relationship this conversation of art and fashion has with celebrity. Schiaparelli's lobster dress, worn by the Duchess of Windsor, or Ferragamo's rainbow platforms made for Judy Garland, or even Warhol's Interview magazine, which created a forum for celebrities to have a voice in the dialogue of art and fashion. The conversation of Across Art and Fashion goes beyond the boundaries of those mediums and bleeds into the broader environment of cultures and communities the work existed in.
When considering how this exhibition from 2016 has a place in today's conversation, I think it is here, with the inevitable inclusion of celebrity within the mainstream of creative culture. The popularity of today's Schiaparelli is marked by the stars they are able to dress on the red carpet. At the same time, the viral moment created on Coperni's 2022 runway was made even more remarkable by the presence of top supermodel Bella Hadid. In today's society, more than ever, celebrity is so entangled in our everyday life, their Instagram posts permeating our feeds while scandals dominate the public conversation. Furthermore, it feels as if there is a form of allegiance that exists between fashion and celebrity, one often using the other for their own motivations, with the common outcome being a collaboration. In 1937, it took the form of a lobster dress to change the public perception of a dutchess; today is that of Hadid wearing a fabulously shocking Schiaparelli gown on the red carpet.
The influence of celebrity was evident in the examples used in Across Art and Fashion, but what has changed so drastically in the past six years is the global accessibility we all have to their lives. I think it is this accessibility, combined with the unmistakable grip celebrity has on public opinion, which makes them such a powerful tool in today's fashion conversation.