I think it is safe to say that everyone has been to an art museum. We all know what it is like, roaming through the halls and rooms admiring paintings, maybe sometimes statues or sculptures, but that is really what concludes art as we know it. Contemporary art has come into the picture more and mixed a lot of things up, so now you may also be seeing things that you may more closely relate to. Photography has become bigger throughout art museums. Now, more and more people are becoming aware of the Met Gala, which celebrates fashion as art. The news talks about it now, maybe it is thanks to social media that puts models and designers and editors at our fingertips, but everyone is starting to see that there is a fashion exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Do those clothes really belong there?
Can fashion really compare to Monet's Lily Pond or Van Gogh's Starry Night, or Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa? Louis Vuitton thinks so as they hold their fashion show at one of the biggest art museums in the world, the Louvre. In fact, everyone in the fashion industry doesn't even think twice about fashion not being art.
In France, in 1868 Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture (trade association of high fashion) was created. Following was Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à -Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode (trade association of women's ready-to-wear of couturiers and fashion designers) in 1973 as an ode to street wear. That same day, Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine (trade association of men's ready-to-wear fashion) was created. Ultimately it was that same day that it was decided to create what we have today, The Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à -porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode (French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear Couturiers and Fashion Designers). All this to say that France has the Fashion Federation designed to provide industry standards in quality for all designers included. It includes two fashion shows a year to unveil the designs. The art if you will.
During the development in France to call fashion art, in New York, in 1948, the costume institute was added to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Publicist, Eleanor Lambert, created the Met Gala to celebrate the opening of the display. During that time, it was one of many charity galas, therefore members of New York's high society and some from the fashion industry attended. It was Diana Vreeland, a consultant to the costume institute that officially had the Gala held at the Met and invited celebrities. It is now Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, that oversees the gala and the guest list, since 1995. But It still was not until 2010, when Lady Gaga was the headline performer or until 2013 when Beyonce was the honorary co-chair, that this event caught attention of the public. Designers started to get more into the themes as the years went on, truly embodying the creativity and art that is the costume institute.
Many people are not a fan of contemporary art, but it is because of those inventive artists and each generation that comes that continues to make new careers, new styles, and new art possible. Though I do not see fashion as a newly thought of form of art, it has become that for many people. As a model and lover of fashion, I respect each creation that these designers bring into fruition and it is exciting to me that I can continue to change how people view fashion and the "materialistic" designer pieces.
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