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During Fashion Week, the runways become more than just trend showcases, it transforms into living galleries where designers reimagine history’s greatest masterpieces.
Fashion Week is no longer merely a stage for new silhouettes. It has become a platform where art and clothing engage in a dynamic dialogue, each collection telling its own story. Every season, on the runways of Paris, Milan, London and New York, artistic references abound. Fashion draws from the great masters, summons icons of painting, sculpture and architecture, and brings to life, on fabric, what museums safeguard under glass. It is, in a sense, a game of mirrors, a way for designers to draw inspiration directly from the artists themselves.
This is no coincidence. Fashion, the art of the present, has always borrowed from the forms and colors of the past to shape the future. In 2025, this dialogue with history feels more pronounced than ever. Society seems eager to reconnect with beauty, memory and admiration for the talents of yesterday’s creators. On the runways, pictorial references are bolder and more deliberate. Fabrics evoke paintings, silhouettes recall sculptures and some shows resemble exhibitions where Botticelli, Klimt, Frida Kahlo and Mondrian converge.
Among the most striking examples from past seasons, Moschino’s Spring-Summer 2020 collection stands out. Jeremy Scott transformed his models into Cubist canvases, with trompe-l’œil dresses, oversized brushstroke motifs and frame-like hats reminiscent of Picasso and Braque. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has continually explored the intersection of artistic heritage and femininity, sometimes venturing into surrealist realms where the woman becomes a living painting.
Beauty as Heritage
During September 2025’s Fashion Week, several houses took a step further, embracing direct connections with contemporary art. In Milan, Fendi presented compositions blending floral and geometric motifs in a modernist spirit. In London, Roksanda drew inspiration from the sculptor Phyllida Barlow, with dresses featuring unstable volumes and inventive draping, true tributes to the avant-garde. In Paris, Issey Miyake unveiled silhouettes described as wearable sculptures, continuing the house’s exploration of form, though the reference to Erwin Wurm is more a critical analogy than an official citation.
Impressionist nods were also evident, particularly at Louis Vuitton, where brushed motifs evoked Monet’s light. Schiaparelli, true to Elsa Schiaparelli’s legacy and her iconic dialogues with Dalí, revived surrealism through extravagant accessories and dramatic volumes. Iris Van Herpen, celebrated for her sculptural experimentation, once again captivated critics with futuristic draping and shadow play reminiscent of statuary, without limiting herself to classical references.
At Loewe, the collection directly engaged with the textile work of Josef and Anni Albers, reaffirming the house’s commitment to putting art at the heart of couture. Erdem continued exploring painted motifs, which some observers liken to Expressionism.
This artistic effervescence goes far beyond decoration. Fashion is no longer just about adorning a dress with visual references. It asserts a lineage and invites audiences to reinterpret art history through clothing. In a world shaped by uncertainty, art becomes a refuge and a shared memory.
Yet, this dialogue with art carries ambiguities. For some, it is a sincere homage. For others, it is commercial repurposing. When Dolce & Gabbana print Italian frescoes on bustiers, or Rodarte translates Van Gogh’s sunflowers into flowing gowns, the question arises: mere ornamentation or a genuine attempt to convey emotion?
Regardless, these visual borrowings give fashion added depth. Fabric becomes memory, the runway transforms into a traveling museum, and creation situates itself within a lineage. For audiences, it is an opportunity to rediscover the great masters in a fresh light and to experience, for the duration of a show, the singular emotion where past and present intertwine.
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