…It can if its in a Spring 2009 collection!

We’ve all heard the cliche defense of the fashion-obsessed saying, “Fashion is a form of art!” The usual response is always soaked thoroughly with sarcasm and followed with a turn of the back. But upon reviewing the latest in trends from top designers, and some from those who have yet to burst out on the runway scene, it seems that today designers may be drawing their inspiration from, well…art!

Take a look at the footage from Martin Margiela’s Spring 2009 collection. The faceless models are reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s Mirage painting, in which the human figures are also, faceless. The extreme and exaggerated silhouettes of the jackets are comparable to the angles found in Dali’s Premonition of Civil War. The Surrealist movement in art no doubt played a role in the development of Margiela’s collection. It was that same avant-garde attitude and intriguing yet aesthetic awkwardess that catapulted artists like Salvador Dali and Max Ernst to the walls of MoMA in New York, and is now walking the runways of the world.

Need more? Okay… Remember the Spring 09 of Gaspard Yurkievich in Paris? The use of color in his line was most memorable to me. It was a perfect blend of greys and whites with splashes of color. The same color scheme is reflected in Charles Demuth’s My Egypt. Even the way the lights and camera flashes hit the prism-like shapes of the shoes was reminiscent in the cubist-influenced Demuth.

Designers need not look farther for ideas to inspire and enlighten them than a Modern Art Museum, or at the very least, a library/internet. Do you want an art-inspired look without having to wait for the sample sale? New and upcoming designer Jon Wye can hook you up with his Andy Warhol (pioneered the pop-art movement and cultivated fashion icons like Edie Sedgwick) tribute, in the form of a silkscreen tee shirt ($36, jonwye.com). Now breathe in that fresh new trend smell….and relax!

WRITTEN BY ARIEL (cultindie member)