Art, the essence of fashion?

Le Regard Libre N° 33 - Hélène Lavoyer

We all breathe the fragrant air of something we know well: fashion. Pleasant or not, this fragrance is charged with a captivating energy, inclined to create movement. Ready-to-wear tends to standardize the individuals who choose to conform to it - or submit to it. Yet fashion, in the singular, is at the origin of its plural, a craft capable of distorting the boundaries of norms, of shaking them up to make them yield. Is it an art form? The arrival at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris, of an exhibition devoted to the House of Dior, or one dedicated to Balenciaga, puts the question back on the table.

Il convient d’abord de définir clairement ce qu’est l’art; alors pourrons-nous déterminer si oui ou non, la mode en fait partie. La tâche semble d’emblée périlleuse, chacun y allant de sa propre défi