Uniqlo and the Louvre is the latest art-fashion collab to hit the market
From the “Mona Lisa,” to “Venus de Milo,” to “Nike of Samothrace” - now's your chance to wear your love for these masterpieces on your sleeve anytime, anywhere.
The world-renowned Musée du Louvre in Paris has joined forces with apparel brand Uniqlo to bring its iconic art pieces into the fashion realm.
Photo by: Uniqlo
British graphic designer Peter Saville - known for his record cover designs including Joy Division's 1979 album, Unknown Pleasures - was tapped to reimagine the Louvre's treasured art pieces for the collection dubbed, Art and Logic.
The Art and Logic collection gives the famous artworks a unique and joyful twist.
The Louvre revealed that the collection was inspired by the inventory system that it employs to catalog artworks. These include inventory numbers that are critical in safe-keeping, identification of artworks, and the museum's acquisition policy.
Photo by: Uniqlo
“I was intrigued by the fact that at the Louvre, the world-famous Mona Lisa is known as painting 'No. INV 779,' which is its internal inventory number. I was inspired by that,” Peter said in a statement.
“Like many people, when I look at works of art I'm also conscious of their constituent geometry. I thought that exploring that viewpoint on a T-shirt would be appropriate for this UT/Louvre collaboration.”
The Art and Logic project is just part of Uniqlo and the Louvre's four-year partnership which includes sponsorship of some of the museum's popular events.
Photo by: Uniqlo
Uniqlo is also supporting the Louvre's Mini-Discovery Tour. Launched in July 2020, the 20-minute guided tour is tailor-made for families and held every Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Mutual admiration
This kind of partnership is not novel.
But while art and fashion have been collaborating as far back as during the 60s, we've seen more and more of this union in recent years.
“It became such a trend, even though the idea is absolutely not new,” French artist Christophe Chemin told Vogue in 2017.
“I think it should happen only if there is a genuine interest from both sides, and a real exchange… Fashion designers don't really need artists to do great collections, and artists are not clothes enhancers.”
Photo by: Urban Outfitters (Pinterest)
For many, there's this unspoken admiration between artists, fashion designers, and brands from a creative point of view.
And then there's the commercial gain that benefits both parties.
We've seen this in recent collaborations like the Rijksmuseum and Swatch, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and Uniqlo, Van Gogh Museum and Vans, Museum of Ice Cream, and Sephora, Museum of Contemporary Arts (MoCA) and Levi's, and Guggenheim Museum and COS.
Photo by: Le Point
“Fashion permeates culture in much knottier, more immediate, and mass ways than most fine art, which is usually confined to a much smaller audience within museums and galleries,” explained art curator Michelle Millar Fisher to House & Garden in 2019.
“When artists hitch themselves to this phenomenon when they align themselves with design and its direct access to everyday life, they benefit hugely.”
Photo by: Elite Daily
The worldwide economic repercussions brought by COVID-19 make it all the more certain that we're bound to see more of these types of partnerships in the immediate future.