What makes fashion and art such good bedfellows?

Creative businesses have often supported each other in our modern era, but 2024 saw fashion houses step into the art world in a more dedicated way than in the past. While there have been long-standing arts prizes from Max Mara (its Art Prize for Women, most recently awarded to Dominque White) and Loewe (whose 2024 Craft Prize went to Mexican ceramic artist Andrés Anza), we saw brands such as Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Dior and Burberry take on high-profile roles at the 2024 Venice Biennale, from sponsorship to events. There has always been a symbiosis between fashion and the art world, but the presence was undeniably stronger, and the results were undeniably successful, which leads me to ask – just why do fashion and art make such good bedfellows?

In my years of art writing, I have seen art centres grow and fade away, the rhythm of international politics combining with local changes drawing attention to movements, moments and spaces. And in 2024, the city everyone was talking about in terms of contemporary art was Paris.

The city’s shift to a hub of contemporary art was a slow and deliberate one, executed not only by its policy makers but also by its world famous creative commercial industries. Today, it is host to Art Basel Paris and home to two contemporary art museums powered by the heads of luxury goods houses, Bernard Arnault of LVMH has Fondation Louis Vuitton, and François Pinault has the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection. Plus, there is the unique ‘kunsthalle’-style space, Lafayette Anticipations, a platform of Galeries Lafayette, complementing an increasing number of international galleries. The Parisian contemporary art world owes its success to its government’s support, its curators and its artists. But also to its savvy relationship with fashion houses.

This relationship goes back to Paris’ last contemporary art heyday, the Realist period. It was then that Maison Guerlian, beauty pioneer and keen promoter of the arts, lent support to the poet Charles Baudelaire, and the brand has been faithful to these values ever since.

‘It’s definitely more complex than a simple alignment of values or intentions,’ explains Ann Caroline Prazan, Guerlain Direction Art, Culture and Patrimony. ‘We engage in a constant dialogue that allows art to flourish in unique and meaningful ways, creating a space where exceptional pieces can come to life. Each collaboration becomes a significant chapter in the artist’s journey, like a fleeting but luminous moment – a shooting star that leaves a lasting impression. This balance of creative freedom and mutual respect is what makes Guerlain such a distinctive partner for the arts.’

In today’s cultural landscape, few things translate as well as authenticity, and the affiliations and relationships that support an ethos dating back to a house’s inception are worth their weight in gold. With this in mind, brands are keen to employ artists and designers who are a natural fit. Celine has a collection of commissioned works by artists including Elaine Cameron-Weir and Maia Ruth Lee, and Rimowa has staged special projects with artists such as Ptolemy Mann and Daniel Arsham. Such projects are not only impressive, but are important markers of support for the arts.

Turning an eye to Milan – where blue-chip gallery Thaddaeus Ropac has just announced an outpost – locally headquartered Miu Miu is behind the Women’s Tales project that foregrounds women filmmakers. Fendi, meanwhile, funded the restoration of Rome’s Trevi Fountain in 2017, resulting in one of the most stunning catwalk stagings of all time as models appeared to ‘walk on water’.

‘Cinema has been a long-time passion and has also been an important backbone of my education,’ says Mrs Prada. ‘With the Tales we created a platform for talented directors: through their gaze, we have opened a conversation on the world of femininity and vanity and what it means today. A conversation with women about women.’

Miu Miu’s support of the art world ranges from its casting of visual artists, actors and thinkers in its catwalk shows to the commissioning of artists to design the shows themselves. The brand's partnership with Art Basel Paris in 2024 saw artist Goshka Macuga stage the interactive exhibition Tales and Tellers. It opened the project up to the art world and the Miu Miu community. In April 2024, Miu Miu also staged a ‘literary club’, a two-day event dedicated to rediscovering ‘forgotten’ female writers that served as a cultural cross-pollination and drew crowds.

Fashion can make a truly great partner for the art world, with the natural alignment of luxury universes, but each also offers something the other can struggle to access. The art world may falter in sustaining its artists financially, but it does offer an abundance of creative freedom.

Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, and revealed plans for a new large public venue on Place du Palais Royal in the centre of Paris. Installed in the windows of the building, yet to open, is a showcase of the foundation's artist collaborations. Putting works from artists including Agnès Varda, Claudia Andujar and Ron Mueck front and centre shows us not only the success of the Cartier brand but also that it has not forgotten the roots of creativity that it grew from.

Our so-called ‘creative industries’, including the film and music businesses, theatreland, the fashion industry and the art world, bring in huge amounts of revenue but oddly – in my opinion – can be viewed as sitting in opposition to the mainstream. Ultimately, however you look at it, creativity supporting creativity is a natural fit, and looking towards Europe from the UK, I think we could take a leaf or two out of their book.