When first thinking about this task I came up with people like Alexa Chung, Blake Lively, Zooey Deschanel, Jessie J, Ferne Cotton, Rita Ora ect. . . But they were just people who inspired little bits of my fashion. It wasn't until I stopped thinking about it that my Taste Makers popped into my head, and once they had it was obvious.
1. ANDY WARHOL
HISTORY
So we all know him as King of Pop Art, however Andy Warhol had a relationship with fashion long before he gained acclaim as the artist known as the Pope of Pop. Back in the 1950s, Warhol was an illustrator for Harper’s Bazaar who contributed whimsical illustrations of dainty heels and colorful beauty products. In Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland, author Amanda Mackenzie Stuart writes that Vreeland, who was then a fashion editor for the magazine, and her Harper’s Bazaar colleagues would call him “Andy Paperbag” because the socially awkward Warhol would bring his illustrations to the offices in a paper bag.
"Pop art and fashion have always gone hand in hand .
- Chasseur, 2013
Warhol is the genres ‘Pop Artist’ and it is with this man that Pop Art and fashion truly meet; indeed Warhol began his career in fashion illustration. The artist’s works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement and this was also applied to fashion and he was a prolific fashion illustrator, carrying out commissions for many of the big names of his time, including Vogue. Warhol’s ‘ artist’s salon’ The Factory’’ a hot bed of self-expression in both art and fashion; he and his circle, which included muse and ‘Factory Girl’ Edie Sedgwick, who with her modish smoky eyes, mini-skirts, giant accessories, black-and-white motifs, remains a style icon to this day, became increasingly influential. The Warholian look, of both the man and his muses, has inspired generations of misfits and fashionista’s alike.
It wasn’t until after the end of the next decade in 1969, after he gained fame for his Campbell’s Soup cans, that Warhol decided to create the magazine that would become, as Stuart wrote, “the vehicle for drawing the young, the famous, the rich, and the interesting into Warhol’s orbit.”
Fashion regularly turned up in Warhol's magazine 'Interview' pages in various forms, the now-famous editrix André Leon Talley got his start there, as a receptionist, eventually climbing the ranks to become the magazine’s fashion editor. Fashion designers like Halston, Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent would turn up regularly in its pages, while photographs of models like Jerry Hall and Bianca Jagger were all about.
Interview became one of the most influential publications during that time, not just for the fashion that appeared in it, but also the art, culture and celebrity too. It was known for the provocative interviews that were a part of its format, and each issue captured a specific time in pop culture.
TODAY
Interview’s founder may have died in 1987, but the magazine still thrives. Anybody who is somebody in fashion, film or art has appeared in the magazine. Whether it’s the store of the moment, the party of the night or the it girl of the time — they have all been in Interview. The legacy that Warhol left behind still attracts the world’s most renowned personalities — from artist Richard Phillips to model Kate Moss. Fashion still loves Warhol, as evidenced by the artist’s poppy flowers showing up on Von Furstenberg’s and Prada’s recent runways and the throngs of fashion cognoscenti who still regularly show up in Interview.
The rise of Pop Art came rushing back just last year with Topshop's popping range, and is still lingering today with Slogan T-Shirts making a bold stance! From Andy Warhol inspired print, to Mickey and
Minnie Mouse motifs, Pop Art made a heroic return
in a whole new take on the history of art! With fashion
becoming brave and bold, the introduction of Pop Art
slots in nicely, even making the extraordinary seem
normal. Artists such as Roy Lichtenstein have inspired
this grand challenge in the fashion world. His famous
paintings and comic strips have influenced designers
like Markus Lupfer and Phillip Lim, who have been
designing and creating in this witty manner for years.
They were definitely men well ahead of their time.
O x
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