Clothing as Art

A couple of years ago before the pandemic started, an Indian student blew up the fashion world by debuting "balloon pants" made from latex. These pants were a major talking point for many fashion media outlets at the time, who praised the ingenuity of their design and the risks taken to break the image of mainstream fashion. This news would slowly fade away during the pandemic but was recently brought back by Sam Smith at the Brit Awards in February of this year. 



The whole outfit was created by the same student, Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai, who now runs his own label called HARRI in London. This photo is almost comical, but there are people out there who appreciate this variant of fashion, which is designed to stand out. 


I've always thought about fashion as an art form. Many of the artists that I listen to and actors and actresses that I watch on the big screen are major proponents of this culture, and it is something that I consider to be beautiful in its uniqueness.  

Karl Lagerfeld famously said "Art is art. Fashion is fashion." On the surface that may seem true, but how resilient is that statement really? When I walk around Glasgow, I see numerous people, children and adults, wearing clothes depicting art. Van Gogh and Salvador Dali are huge inspirations in fashion, with many design choices stemming from their unique visuals. Even the most avant-garde fashion houses seek inspiration in art. 



















Trends are easy to adopt. Fast fashion companies produce and discard clothes by jumping from trend to trend. Art is much more memorable, and it is here to stay. 

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