Broadsheet Melbourne: Is Fashion Art?

Paco Park designer Marianne Diaz explores the fashion versus art debate at the opening of her first installation piece at Window99 in Fitzroy.

How do we define fashion? Is fashion and art the same or are they mutually exclusive? Can one exist without consideration to the other? These are some of the questions that ran through my mind during a recent whirlwind trip to New York City in May, where I had the privilege (and luck of perfect timing) of visiting Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The late designer emerged at time when there was something lacking in the industry and his bold, outlandish designs led to him being coined the enfant terrible of fashion. However, it was that white cotton muslin dress, spray-painted black and yellow by robots as part of the spring/summer 1999 collection that changed the fashion landscape forever. Since then, designers have continually pushed the envelope, keeping the audience and wearer guessing.Closer to home, the omnipresent fashion versus art debate rears its head with the opening of Paco Park, designer turned artist Marianne Diaz’s first installation piece at the Window99 gallery space in Fitzroy. A series of her colour-drenched, beautifully tailored jackets will be on display through the gallery’s exposed windows and will also be available for purchase.

Read the original article here