KNMA Art x Fashion Series

In keeping with its vision of bringing art to the people, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art has organized a unique series of art and fashion under the section Education and Interactive Engagement. The series called ‘Art x Fashion’ speaks to various popular faces in the fashion industry to find out how art has inspired them or their work.

Fashion is a form of art and art is a form of expression. The essence of creative representation and stylistic expression become the heart of both art and fashion, making their collision inexorable. It is an amalgamation unlike any other, sweeping realms of diverse cultures to bring out the best of both worlds.

Art is typically in a visual form that, in turn, allows the viewer to be moved by the beauty and emotional power it may possess. Fashion as applied art can be ambitious acts as a medium of expression with designers pushing clothes to emotional, social, sculptural, architectural and other extremes. Fashion reflects changes in contemporary culture and often can be described as art.

Taking this thought forward, KNMA’s Art x Fashion mini-series explores the relationship between the two art forms with leading personalities in the fashion industry. We examine how art affects their work, how in some cases famous artworks has been incorporated in their designs, and how art can inspire a new look or a collection. The series is all about this fusion of creativity, incredible style and inspiration.

Whether it’s YSL, Iris Van Herpen, John Galliano’s tribute to art history at Versailles for Dior or Elsa Schiaparelli coming together with Dali.

Art always had a huge impact on fashion and through this series we look forward to trace the inspirations behind styling, designing and marketing of luxury brands.

Some of the fashion experts in the series include…

• Gauri and Nainika (Fashion Designers):  Art has inspired G&N collections throughout from Kandinsky to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, they featured artworks from Alpesh Dave and  Travis Black for their Grand Finale Show last year. The designer duo have always delved into the colorful world of art, apart from taking Cues from Raza, Souza for their Summer 2018 collection.

• Isha Bhansali (Celebrity Stylist) Talked about channeling art in editorials and encounters with art in her life.

• Amit Aggarwal (Designer) Talked about creating his collection “LUMEN” after experiencing - In the eyes of the Animal - an immersive art experience by Marshmallow Laser Feast at Saatchi Art Gallery in London, and drawing inspiration from Yayoi Kusama, Bharti Kher and Vibha Galghotra in his work.

• Ayushman Mitra (Bobo Calcutta, Designer) talked about Jamini Roy’s paintings and iconography in Bengali culture inspiring him to shape his vision

• Sanjay Garg (Raw Mango, Designer) along with Bandana Tewari, Lifestyle Editor talked about relationship art shares with Fashion  and finding inspiration in folk art and culture

• Kalyani Chawla (Fashion Entrepreneur) will be talking about influence of art on luxury brands and fashion marketing

• Sahil Kochhar shares insights on how art & various art forms have inspired his approach to fashion

• Rahul Mishra illustrates the parallels between an artist’s canvas and a fashion collection

• Fashion designer duo Shivan & Narresh talk about the influence of art and travel on their collections

• Fashion designer Nikhil Mehra from Shantanu & Nikhil talks about the changing shape of fashion experiences through art.

• National film award winner & costume designer Niharika Bhasin Khan talks about her favourite Indian artists and how art & cinema impacts life.

• Veteran Fashion Designer Tarun Tahiliani explores the fascinating alchemy of art & it’s impact on his work & life.

This series can be found across KNMA social media platforms. It aims to give audiences a new kind of experience in terms of creativity and truly examine how global and all-encompassing the world of art can be with its far-reaching influence.