‘Fashion Wears Art’, a revolutionary showcase of wearable art, mesmerized audiences at the Lakme Fashion Week 2023.
Curated by Sunil Sethi, the chairman of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), this groundbreaking event celebrated the seamless fusion of fashion and art. With seven engaging collaborations between designers and leading artists, the show proved that art transcends barriers of time and space, just like the style itself.
One of the highlights of the event was the collaboration between conceptual artist Mithu Sen and renowned designer Rajesh Pratap Singh. Pratap marvelled at Sen’s distinct language and the inspiration that her studio provided.
The collection featured glow-in-the-dark outfits, pigtails attached to shoes, and Pratap’s signature pleating and voluminous skirts with corsetry lighting.
Namrata Joshipura paid homage to artist Sudarshan Shetty, incorporating his repeated patterns into her designs, creating a meditative space for the viewers. Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna collaborated with artist Vibha Galhotra, showcasing the “Flow” series that shed light on the polluted state of our rivers.
The challenge of translating paintings into garments was acknowledged by Shalini Passi, founder of SPAF & MASH, who partnered with Sethi for this event. Preserving the visual essence and details of a painting is a complex task, involving artistic interpretation and careful fabric selection. Both Sethi and Shalini emphasized the importance of featuring artists with diverse backgrounds and themes to engage a wider audience.
With Fashion Wears Art, Sunil Sethi and his collaborators have demonstrated that the fashion industry is an effective and dynamic canvas for artistic expression, pushing the boundaries of creativity and transcending conventional norms.
