Fine arts meets high fashion
Art and fashion have always been topics for spirited conversation. More often than not, the results are amazing when high fashion and fine art intersect, dahlings. Take the Mondrian shift dresses by Yves Saint Laurent and Elsa Schiaparelli’s Dali-inspired designs, for example. Haute couture has been showcased in museums in the same way that such institutions revere paintings by a highly respected artist, palanggas. Fine art has, unsurprisingly, inspired the creation of not only museum-worthy couture, but also of wearable yet stylish and impeccably constructed designer pieces. Such is the case with Manila-based couture label Septième Rebelle, whose collaboration with Fundacion Sansó is inspired by the work of no less than distinguished Spanish-born painter Juvenal Sansó.
Unbeknown to many, master painter Sansó dabbled in fashion as a textile designer, while he was a student at the École Nationale des Beaux Artes in Paris in the 1960s, as a means of supporting himself when the Central Bank had set caps on the financial support that could be sent by his father from Manila. Sansó’s hand-painted textile designs depicted florals and foliage, as well as geometric shapes and abstract patterns. The House of Balenciaga was his biggest client.
Robbie Santos, founder and creative force behind Septième Rebelle, is no stranger to Sansó’s work as a patron of the arts himself. But Sansó’s story of working as a young textile designer in Paris may have added another dimension to Santos’ appreciation of the renowned painter, prompting a vision beyond his: that of an art connoisseur.
Santos draws a connection between his experience as a burgeoning fashion designer inspired by fine art, palanggas, and Sansó’s experience dabbling in fashion many years ago.
“He was still new as an artist. I feel a certain level of parallelism with Sansó in a way that I’m also starting my life as a fashion designer — 60 years later,” Santos said. “I think there is a connection between what he made and what I am making for the collaboration.”
Although separated by half a century and belonging to different generations, their experiences are similar: both artists took a step away from their respective chosen mediums to see how one another’s approach could fuel their creative pursuits, dahlings. Read More…
