Oscar Wilde said, “One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” Certain designers have taken the concept of wearable art seriously, creating collections inspired by legendary artists. Sometimes the reference is literal with textiles patterned in motifs borrowed from iconic pieces. Elsewhere, couturiers will use an artistic movement or technique as the starting point for their designs. Like a guided tour through the world’s finest museums, these 20 collections translate famous works of art to the runway.
From photographer Berenice Abbott’s unflinching style to Pablo Picasso’s cubist faces, Richard Serra’s towering installations to Mary Cassatt’s intimate woodblock prints, these fashion collections inspired by famous artists span centuries and mediums. What these runway masterpieces have in common is fine art as their muse.
Runway Masterpieces: Collections Inspired by Famous Artists
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J. Mendel Fall 2016
The J. Mendel Fall 2016 collection drew inspiration from two artists, photographer Sheila Metzner and Polish Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka. The designer particularly emulated the boldness of de Lempicka's color palette and the elegant portrayal of women in her work. "She’s really celebrating the beauty of the woman, the glamour," he told The New York Times.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Novis Fall 2016
Ellsworth Kelly was an American minimalist painter noted for his dynamically colorful paintings, which directly influenced the Novis Fall 2016 collection. Designer Jordana Warmflash honored the late artist, who passed away in 2015, with colorblocked A-line skirts and dresses in his signature bright style.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Karen Walker Fall 2016
Karen Walker dedicated her Fall 2016 collection to the "20th century utilitarian, androgynous chic" photographer Berenice Abbott. "We were attracted to her personal style – a mix of no-fuss utility with a good amount of joie de vivre," she told Urbis. The imagery for the campaign was created by photography team Mark and Deborah Smith, who shot only five frames per model on black and white film as an homage to Abbott's method.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Cushnie et Ochs Fall 2016
"Toulouse Lautrec meets high wire tension with hints of the sideshow demimonde. Women who risk. Women who fly. Women of the circus." Those were the inspirations behind Cushnie et Ochs' Fall 2016 collection. French illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's flair for the theatrical was evident in the dramatic and ruffled party dresses Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs sent down the runway.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Hanley Fall 2016
A visit to the Restoration Department of Madrid's Prado Museum, home to classic paintings by Spanish artists like El Greco and Velazquez, led to the Hanley Fall 2016 collection. Designer Nicole Hanley said she "returned those historical influences through embroidered laces, unusual prints, rich velvets and veiled polka dots to our sophisticated, 21st Century woman on the go..."
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Viktor & Rolf Spring 2016 Haute Couture and Schiaparelli Fall 2016 Haute Couture
Pablo Picasso's distinct cubist faces inspired two recent haute couture fashion collections. The Viktor & Rolf Spring 2016 and the Schiaparelli Fall 2016 ranges both featured nods to the avant-garde style. Viktor & Rolf stripped Cubism of its color and translated the revolutionary style to an entirely white collection exploding with 3-D cubist faces in piqué, while Schiaparelli Creative Director Bertrand Guyon sent a bustier adorned with a Picasso-inspired profile down the runway.
Images: Imaxtree, Ian Burt/Flickr Creative Commons, Imaxtree
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Zuhair Murad Fall 2016 Haute Couture
Gustav Klimt's opulently gilded mosaics have left a huge impact on fashion, from the gold pieces in Rick Owens' Spring 2013 collection to the bejeweled embellishments at Christian Dior Spring 2008 Haute Couture. Most recently, the Austrian Symbolist painter's oeuvre informed the decadent gowns seen on the runway at Zuhair Murad Fall 2016 Haute Couture.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Haney Spring 2017
The peekaboo effects in the Haney Spring 2017 collection — translucent sequin overlays, fringe accents — stem from the land art of James Turrell, whose large-scale installations play with perception. "I was inspired by James Turrell’s Skyspaces series. I have always admired his work and how he explores light and space," Mary Alice Haney told the Observer.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Lie Sangbong Spring 2017
Korean designer Lie Sang Bong drew from his roots for his Spring 2017 lineup, which is based on chaekgado, a 19th century style of still-life painting that depicted items like books, stationary, musical instruments and flowers to reflect the value of scholarship. The designer's Spring 2017 collection made the inspiration wearable with book-patterned trousers and suits, actually posing models on top of bookshelves.
Images: @liesangbong, Wikimedia Commons
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Charles Youssef Spring 2017
Esther Stocker is a Vienna-based artist who manipulates space with monochrome installations. Her obsession with grid structures is reflected in the shape-shifting angular dresses of Charles Youssef's Spring 2017 collection. "I was really inspired by Esther Stocker’s striped wallpapers that become a geometric shape," the designer explained to WWD.
Images: Courtesy of Charles Youssef, Wikimedia Commons
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Balmain Fall 2016
Peter Carl Fabergé's jeweled eggs are the epitome of luxury, so it's fitting that Balmain has been reproducing them in braiding and embroidery all over sweaters, tights, dresses and skirts since its Fall 2012 collection inspired by a particular egg owned by Elizabeth Taylor. This year, the signature pattern was spotted on a sweater in the brand's Fall 2016 lineup.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Anna Sui Fall 2016
To describe her Fall 2016 collection, Anna Sui coined the term "Pop-sydelic" in reference to the psychedelic pop artists who inspired the looks. One of the major influences was Niki de Saint Phalle, whose giant rainbow Nana sculptures were recreated in beading and embroidery on a dress.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Proenza Schouler Fall 2016
Proenza Schouler conjured the process of iconic American artists like Richard Serra, Robert Ryman and Robert Smithson in its Fall 2016 collection. "They were more interested in this than the actual outcome because the process informed the outcome," designer Jack McCollough told Dazed. "We were playing with this idea of control and release – so controlling it by knotting and lacing everything in and then releasing it through slashing and forming baggier and slouchier silhouettes."
Images: Imaxtree, losmininos/Flickr Creative Commons
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Christian Siriano Fall 2016
"I wanted to change it up a little. To show that evening doesn’t have to be a gown," Christian Siriano told Vogue of his Fall 2016 lineup. To that end, he refashioned chunky knits into evening wear, a concept directly inspired by contemporary fiber artist Sheila Hicks' The Art of the Yarn exhibit.
Images: Imaxtree, currystrumpet/Flickr Creative Commons
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Gucci Fall 2016
Many designers might scream at the idea of a graffiti artist spray painting all over their work, but Gucci invited Trevor Andrew (aka GucciGhost) to do just that for the Fall 2016 collection. The Canadian snowboarder-turned-artist collaborated on the playful looks by tagging all over a jacket, a pleated skirt and a leather handbag.
Images: Imaxtree, @troubleandrew
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Mary Katrantzou Fall 2016
Though Mary Katrantzou didn't acknowledge Jim Dine's heart paintings as the inspiration for her heart-splashed Fall 2016 collection, Vogue first noted the influence that the pop artist's style had on the designer's prints. Katrantzou's aluminum runway bedecked with silver balloons was a nod to another artist: Andy Warhol's 1966 Silver Clouds installation.
Images: Imaxtree, Samantha Marx/Flickr Creative Commons
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Orla Kiely Spring 2017
We think of Joan Baez as an icon of the 60s/70s free spirit, but you may not be familiar with her younger sister, folk singer and activist Mimi Fariña. She was the muse behind Orla Kiely's bohemian Spring 2017 collection, which paid homage to the artist with prairie dresses, wide-leg pants and dreamy florals.
Images: Imaxtree, Wikimedia Commons
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Off-White Fall 2016
Off-White designer Virgil Abloh is fond of using works of art on his pieces. He plastered Spring 2016 T-shirts and hoodies for men with Caravaggio prints and for his Fall 2016 women's collection, he turned Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico's enigmatic Piazza d'Italia landscapes into two finale looks — a pleated dress and an asymmetrical skirt.
Images: Imaxtree, Renaud Camus/Flickr Creative Commons
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ADEAM Spring 2017
Echoes of shodo, the art of Japanese calligraphy, spiraled across the ADEAM Spring 2017 collection. The curving brushstrokes were seen in the black, white and red motifs used on a parka, a top and two gowns and interpreted less literally in designer Hanako Maeda's fluid draping.
Images: Imaxtree, Ol' Wizard/Flickr Creative Commons
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Suno Spring 2017
The starting point for the Suno Spring 2017 line was American painter and printmaker Mary Cassatt's Japanese woodblock prints showing domestic scenes of women. Designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty told WWD that they wanted to create a sense of intimacy with soft colors and sensual florals.
