Juvy I.

Perez

Arts and Design-12

Fashion as art-Art as fashion

The First Monday in May, starring Anna Wintour and curator, Andrew Bolton is a

documentary film directed by Andrew Rossi, founder of Abstract Productions. Produced by

Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Sylvana Ward Durett, and Dawn Ostroff.

The documentary film, ”The First Monday in May” describes fashion as art. According to

Andrew Bolton, like art, fashion also has concepts, principles, aesthetics, and techniques. John

Galliano also pointed out that they apply art in fashion. Alexander McQueen’s Savage beauty

paved way for critics to be more knowledgeable on fashion as art.

The film lets us go through the journey of Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and Andrew

Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute in creating the most visited fashion exhibit in history,

China: Through the Looking Glass, a Chinese-inspired Western fashion. It also addresses the

debate on whether fashion is art, interviewing fashion designer’s, John Galliano, Jean Paul

Gaultier, and Karl Lagerfeld. With 8 months of preparations, Andrew and Anna have been through

with discussions, traveling to and trips to Paris to visit the Yves Saint Laurent archives and to

Beijing for a publicity tour. As time goes by, down to months, hours, until the event. This film

debates whether fashion can be art.

As an art lover myself, I would recommend people to watch this documentary. It does not just

show us how fashion is related to art, but it also shows the intense preparation of the exhibit.

From choosing the designs of napkins, tablecloths, table settings to the seating arrangements,

designs for the museums and whatnots. I was surprised by how they were able to put up all the

embellishments in just less than two weeks.

 Guo Pei’s haute couture was my favorite in all of the costumes showed during the film. It was

inspired by Chinese porcelain designs. Rihanna’s yellow gown was marvelous, she was the

perfect model for the gown. The cape had wonderful intricate designs that matches the color of

the gown. I also liked Anne Hathaway’s dress with the hoodie colored gold.

I think the film really showed that fashion is truly art. One designer said that fashion can either

be art. There are designs that are to be put in an exhibit and there are some designs that are for

commercial purposes only nevertheless, the people’s view on fashion is changed during the

exhibit because as they can see, masterpieces from fashion designers can be put in museums.

Overall, fashion can be considered as art because Mcqueen’s Savage Beauty became a way

for critics to view fashion as art. Andrew Bolton mentioned that fashion also has standards and

elements that are connected to art. Galliano says art is being applied in fashion, through different

patterns, textures and etc. designers put these in clothes and create a masterpiece. Individuals

who are interested in fashion and art must watch this or for those people who likes to watch

documentaries, it might be boring for others but as you go through the film it makes you realize

that fashion is art itself. We don’t just see fashion on streets or shows but we also see them in

museums.

Being an art student myself, I also view fashion as art because we see fashion everyday. Art

describes who we are and designers say that fashion symbolizes our whole being, what we do,

what we like, etc. Like exhibits, it lets us gather in one place and share our thoughts on a certain

piece or artwork.