17 October 2011

FASHION + FINE ART COLLABORATIONS

Recently the concept of 'the collaboration' in the fashion world has got me in a spin.  Designers working with fine artists on 'special projects' is fast becoming a fashionable trend.  

I became aware of this after the romance was born pop up shop opened on oxford st, paddington late last year and the collaboration between the label and australian sculptor/installation artist kate rohde stained my mind.  I loved it.  Rohde's work was photographed and altered to create gorgeous colourful graphics for the RWB fabrics.  Beautiful dresses, tights, shirts, silk scarves, and bags were produced for the line, while the shop was decked out with the original artworks.

kate rhode silk tee dress by romance was born and purple headpiece, (2010)

Last year also saw a collaboration between australian streetwear label something else and australian watercolour artist tara marynowsky.  marynowsky produced a series of beautiful, feminine artworks that were used as prints for the aw11 line.  it came up a little treat.
tara marynowsky for something else (2010)

in more recent collaborations we've seen australian high end casual label rittenhouse take to working with aussie painter/sculptor gemma smith.  the label developed a print that is largely based on a navy blue dominated painting of smiths as well as producing a fabric created from a sequence of paint swirls by the artist.  the result is to die for.

     
gemma smith for ritten house (2011) and horizon (reverse shadow painting) (2010)

It's great to see aussie designers working alongside, and essentially showcasing the work of these aussie artists.  It's so interesting to see how fine art can translate into fashion and it gets me excited to see these wonderful artists work on a new canvas.

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