From Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali in the 1930s to Marc Jacobs and Richard Prince, fashion designers and artists joining forces is no new phenomenon. But the movement is surging each season, and now retailers like Barneys New York are also getting on board.
WE THINK OF ART appreciation as erudite, but an interest in fashion is considered airheaded. When an art-lover buys art, it's called "collecting." When a fashion enthusiast buys clothing, it's called "shopping." Art is supposed to be timeless and important, while fashion is understood to be ephemeral and frivolous.
Despite this much-litigated list of ontological differences between art and fashion, the two are cross-pollinating more than ever. In fact, it's possible the moment has never been riper.
For her spring 2014 show in Milan, Miuccia Prada commissioned six contemporary artists to create murals to decorate her catwalk. The resulting imagery inspired bold but surprisingly wearable dresses and handbags for the collection. Nearly two weeks later, in Paris, Karl Lagerfeld presented his collection for Chanel at the Grand Palais, transforming the exhibition hall into an art-fair-style, white-walled hangar. Models strutted amid 75 sculptures and paintings conceived by Mr. Lagerfeld, who played with the brand's iconography—pearls, perfume bottles, camellias, double "C"s. Some canvases were ornamented with planks in the style of artist John McCracken, others framed like old-master work. Many pieces were accompanied by little red dots reminiscent of those seen on "sold" paintings at gallery shows. Mr. Lagerfeld's accompanying spring fashions felt at once provocative and commercially viable. Jay Z's song " Picasso Baby" provided the score.
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GALLERY GIRLS | Karl Lagerfeld envisioned Chanel's spring runway as one great big art exhibition.Chanel
This interbreeding of art and fashion is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1937, Elsa Schiaparelli joined forces with Salvador Dalí to produce a surreal, lobster-print gown made of silk organza and synthetic horsehair. Thirty years later, Yves Saint Laurent created planar shift dresses gridded like Piet Mondrian canvases. Marc Jacobs has worked with everyone from Stephen Sprouse to Takashi Murakami on accessories for Louis Vuitton. And Raf Simons has joined forces with Sterling Ruby at Dior. But today, the collaborations seem to be evolving past novelty status and into the status quo.
As Middle Eastern oil money is funneled into abstract expressionism, and Russian oligarchs collect Warhols at the same rate they snap up West London real estate, postwar art is increasingly seen as pure commodity. (It's no surprise that these buyers are also major consumers of fashion.)
The idea that an artist's creativity and authenticity could be jeopardized by a corporate collaboration now seems precious. Collaboration is no longer a euphemism for selling out.
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A colorful embellished dress from Prada emulates the work of Bogotá-based mural artist Stinkfish.Stinkfish (mural)
"We're at a very interesting juncture in the relationship between art and fashion," said Michael Rock, co-founder of 2x4, a New York-based design consultancy that frequently partners with Prada. "It's a fluid relationship, one where an artist doesn't just have to have an art career or a commercial career. It can be very porous," he said. "I don't think anyone's holding up the gallery or the museum as some sacrosanct place [to exhibit art] anymore." Mr. Rock added that, when artists work with designers on runway collections, the exposure (thanks to outlets like YouTube, Twitter TWTR -3.67% and Instagram) goes beyond just a select group of fashion industry elite to a vast and varied audience that would otherwise be impossible to reach.
“'Artists have emerged as brands in themselves. In a way, fashion has made art more fashionable. '”
"Fashion collaborations are ways for artists to expand their profiles globally," said Mitchell Oakley Smith, co-author with Alison Kubler of "Art/Fashion in the 21st Century," published last year by Thames & Hudson. "I don't think Mr. Murakami would have the reputation he does today if it weren't for the collaboration with Louis Vuitton," he said. "Artists have emerged as brands in themselves. In a way, fashion has made art more fashionable," added Ms. Kubler.

From Canvas to Catwalk

Spring fashion's (wearable) art connections. (Click the links to view the arts)
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Left: Jil Sander offered a confetti-printed take on the kinetic works of the late Italian artist Alighiero Boetti.
Right: Black and white photographs of Parisian graffiti by the late photographer Brassaï lent inspiration atCéline.
With the exception of those famous money-making accessories, art-inspired clothing has generally played the part of a special-occasion statement piece rather than a reliable staple in women's wardrobes. Damien Hirst's butterfly dresses for Alexander McQueen come to mind, as do Tim Roeloffs's bricolage dresses for Versace.
But today, the results are increasingly retail-ready. Artists are putting more thought into how their ideas are translating into wearable fashion. "A collaboration between an artist and a designer is most successful when it is an actual collaboration, rather than just an appropriation of an artist's work," said Dennis Freedman, creative director first of W magazine and now of Barneys New York. "Just because an artist creates interesting work that has a great influence, it doesn't mean their work is relevant to the world of fashion."
"A good collaboration is mutually beneficial," said Cary Leitzes, founder of New York-based creative consultancy Leitzes & Co. "For fashion consumers, these pieces provide an opportunity to participate in the art world." That said, pieces from fashion collaborations seldom, if ever, have the same market value as the participating artist's fine art work.
"When one buys a Richard Prince, the price point is considerably different to when one buys a Richard Prince handbag for Louis Vuitton," said Ms. Kubler. (Think several million versus several thousand.) "Some fashion collaborations become iconic, certainly those that Louis Vuitton has engineered, for example." Ms. Kubler cites Vuitton's work with Yayoi Kusama as highly coveted on the secondary market, adding, "Undoubtedly people buy these collaboration collections with a view to keeping and archiving them."
Laure Heriard Dubreuil, CEO and co-founder of the Webster, a sprawling Miami Beach luxury boutique known for its collaborations with contemporary artists, sells art-influenced fashion that, she says, can be purchased with a sense of investment. She suggests T-shirts by Saint Laurent (printed with Luke Thomas drawings) and Calvin Klein (sky blue with a Ryan McGinley image of a naked model partially obscured by parakeets). For accessories: Jeanne Detallante-printed Prada bags and Converse sneakers constructed out of a Nate Lowman canvas.
"The shop has become a museum. As e-commerce has exploded, brands are seeking experiential elevation in their physical spaces," said Mr. Smith. "Often the displays imitate a gallery," added Ms. Kubler, noting how luxury goods are presented on pedestals and custom-fabricated displays at specialty boutiques such as Dover Street Market in London and New York or Colette in Paris. "I mean, there's a great irony to the Prada store [in New York] being housed in the old Guggenheim building."