When the cognoscenti of the fashion industry create a new look, some choose to define themselves by it, identifying themselves, outwardly at least, with the ideas behind the products. But how important is the idea of identity to fashion, and what kind of role can style play in conveying the politics behind identity itself? A new show at the Royal Academy, Aware: Art Fashion Identity, seeks to explore this territory.
Two new, specially commissioned works by Yinka Shonibare and Hussein Chalayan suggest that cultural traditions and social comment can be woven into the fabric of the garment itself. British-Nigerian artist Shonibare presents a wall mural of Victorian girl’s dresses manufactured in colourful fabrics with Dutch wax prints, which are normally worn by sections of the African community on festive occasions. They remind us of the ever-present racial divide, and the legacy of European influence over African identity in the colonial age, while at the same time remaining beautiful, meticulously crafted gowns.
Elsewhere, Chalayan forms a provocative comment on the fashion system with his mannequin, which is silently manipulated by shadowlike puppeteers. The tableau is inspired by the 300-year-old Japanese tradition of Bunraku, a type of puppet theatre, but it contains a very contemporary message about who pulls the strings in the modern fashion world.
“We were very careful in the process of selecting designers for the exhibition, making sure they really have something to say about their clothes,” said Kathleen Soriano, Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy, during a tour through the spacious interiors at No. 6 Burlington Gardens. The aim of Soriano and her team of curators, which include the artist Lucy Orta and Gabi Scardi from the MAXXI museum in Rome, is not to fill a room with pretty clothes but to conduct an analysis of the function of dress in the 21st century. Yet it is still worth visiting this exhibition if you don’t want to think too hard about the message, such is the sheer visual pleasure of looking at the pieces.
Text by George Ghon
GSK Contemporary – Aware: Art Fashion Identity is on display at the Royal Academy of Arts until 30 January 2011
George Ghon is a London based journalist writing about fashion and art
