Why More Artists Are Using Clothing As Their Canvas
Why reserve art for the walls when you can wear it as well? A growing number of artists are making clothing their canvas of choice, as wardrobes become wearable works of art.
Earlier this year at The Artist Project, I recognized an artist –Michelle Vella – immediately by the shirt she wore, which featured her signature “Big Wide Eyes” pop art characters that grace her work and Instagram account.
Bold and attention grabbing, the garment likely served as a conversation starter for the evening, as it does for her clientele who wear her artwork.
After making her mark on the traditional canvas, Vella debuted her “Big Wide Eyes by Michelle Vella” women’s capsule collection on The Shopping Channel’s Style Matters with longtime Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker.
The collection is filled with vibrant, impossible-to-miss scuba jackets, shift dresses, tops, scarves, and clutches.
Vellas is just one of a handful of Toronto artists who have successfully made clothing their canvas.
Toronto-based artist Daniel Longo is known for his bold artwork that draws influences from neo-expressionism, Los Angeles street art, and pop culture. While his larger canvas work appears in sales offices and galleries, he has also extended his canvas beyond the expected with his apparel company, Colorblind Clothing (the name being a nod to his genetic condition).
As a former professional snowboarder, Longo began designing art on T-shirts between competitions, as it was an easy canvas to travel with.
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With the creation of Colorblind Clothing, he expanded his art-focused apparel to include jeans, jean jackets, sweatshirts, bags, and shoes, with his original artwork hand-painted on them.
Designed for those who prefer one-of-a-kind pieces over mass-produced fast-fashion finds, all of the Colorblind Clothing designs are custom made.
Last month, the fusion of fashion and art was front and centre at Fashion Art Toronto (FAT).
The five-day affair attracted all the fashion world and social scene staples in celebration of contemporary art through live performances, fashion films, photography exhibits, art installations, and – most notably – fashion shows that sent works of art down the runway.
Morgan Sheardown, a Toronto-based artist best known for his colourful “Raining Cows,” – the distorted floating cows that grace everything from the canvas to Samsung phone covers – was among the artists to show off his walking art at FAT.
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This spring, he launched his “Raining Cows Art Series” Jacket Collection; handmade silk bombers that feature Sheadown’s signature graphic cows and are available in a variety of eye-catching colour options.
Also turning jackets into talking point-filled art pieces is Toronto’s Dust of Gods, a company that lets you have a jacket that nobody else in the world has.
The company sources its vintage jackets from both local markets and international vintage warehouses and cuts, styles, paints, and embellishes them to become an intricate wearable work of art.
The rigorous production process ensures each one-of-a-kind jacket can never be duplicated once its been given new life (at a hefty but well worth it price tag).
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Dust of Gods is the brainchild of Toronto-based artist Anthony Ricciardi, who currently has a solo gallery exhibit, Hidden Treasure, at MINDSET in Yorkville.
In addition to helping wardrobe causes for those who command attention in a crowd, clothing as a canvas democratizes art to a degree, as it becomes more attainable (i.e. it costs a lot less for a t-shirt than a traditional piece of art).
While the belief that fashion isn’t art is still a commonly held one among some, Toronto’s attention-commanding artists/clothing designers clearly prove that this isn’t the case.
The reality is that links between art and fashion have always existed; we’re just seeing more of it now in our social media saturated culture, and in a city where blending in isn’t part of the game.
Featured Image: Instagram/@widebigeyes // Taken Carlos A Pinto/ Dolce Media Group
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