Uniqueness and authenticity are the gist of luxury brands values. Creativity and talent are the core values for fine art. ‘Art and Style’ is a project that aspires to bring the worlds of luxury fashion and art together. In this article, I will examine how projects like this one benefit both parties.
Art and Style: Brown Thomas presents
Six artists selected for this project come from different artistic backgrounds. Photography (Daniel Holfeld), graffiti and social art (Shane O’Malley), print makers (Jill&Gill, Shane O’Driscol), and fashion inspired art (Eva O’Donovan and Emma Sheridan).
Each of the artists created their own window installation presenting a selected fashion brand.
Art and Style: why luxury fashion and art?
The truth is in today’s world the luxury industry acts as an advocate for the arts.
Brown Thomas undoubtedly gains prestige from initiating collaborations like ‘Art and Style.’ For a long time, this leading Irish department store acted as a patron of the arts. One example is the ‘Create’ cyclical project promoting emerging Irish designers (post about Create 2017 edition available here). The ‘Create’ and ‘Art and Style’ projects both leverage luxurious brands available at Brown Thomas beyond their commercial value.
Crossing the industries and engaging art for luxury labels is quite common among current luxury branding strategies. Peter Marino and his projects for Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and other fashion luxury giants are an excellent example of incorporating art into commercial interiors.
Marino comes from an artistic beginning as a sculptor. Maybe that is why he values the uniqueness of contemporary art. As a result, Marino injects incredible works of local and global artists to every commercial project he is involved with. You can read the story about his projects on rebranding Chanel stores here.
The truth is in today’s world the luxury industry acts as an advocate for the arts. The benefits of these collaborations are definitely mutual. The artists involved are given great exposure and presence. Brown Thomas projects in particular also have a mission to promote their own homegrown talents.
Art and Style: The Artists
I couldn’t resist presenting some of the artists selected for the Art and Style project. All of them are great talents, but I would especially like to present Daniel Holfeld and Shane O’Malley.
Daniel Holfeld
Holfeld is an art and fashion photographer, one of the top talents. He works with the best luxury fashion designers and does editorials for the likes of Vogue. In this edition of Art and Style Project Holfeld dedicated his window for the French brand Celine.
This installation is intriguing, aesthetically unique, and very artistic. By researching his portfolio, it is easy to trace the concept of this window installation to his previous photography series from El Bahia Palace.
I think this combination of architectural elements with graphic purity provides an exceptional effect.
Shane O’Malley
Window design is like creating street art. They are consumed by a mass and exist in the public space. Shane O’Malley’s background is graffiti art, and on a regular basis, the street is his gallery.
His mainstream art could be described as geometric multicolorism. In particular, I see similarities between Sonia and Robert Delaunay and their circular forms and the Orphism art movement from the early 20th century.
His window design for Brown Thomas represents similar aesthetics, and it is his interpretation of Heron Preston’s newest collection.
Emma Sheridan
Jill & Gill
