Sophie Kazan / Featured Insights
Fashion, the visual arts and design have developed side by side for centuries. Recently, such collaborations have progressed beyond mere artistic partnerships to impacting the luxury goods market. Sophie Kazan looks at the increase in collaborations between fashion designers and visual artists in the Middle East.
The sixties were a pivotal time for the advent of creativity between the visual arts, fashion and celebrity culture. American artist Andy Warhol may have been the first to see the potential for
art to overlap with popular culture and design. Known to incorporate the ancient silkscreen method of printing through mesh to create the portraits of iconic celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis, Warhol’s colorful renditions now characterize his art career and have become synonymous with the art and culture of the sixties. Moreover, Warhol’s creations show how fashion, art and design can converge to reflect the excitement and fantasy of popular culture.
In the Arab world, the distinction between the visual arts and fashion has seldom been made. For centuries, the region has been known for its high regard for opulence, which seemingly
pervades all facets of life and adds value to a variety of social engagements. But in recent years, there appears to be a growing interest in the distinction between various creative disciplines
and their value as art forms. Similar to the sixties of Warhol, today there is a recognizable and increased awareness of fashion, art and popular culture across the Middle East found in the myriad of collaborations between different artistic disciplines.
“Art, design and fashion are inextricable; they feed into, influence and inspire each other.”
Zayan Ghandour
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