Whether fashion is art or craft is a subject of ongoing debate; that some designers are inspired by the fine arts is, simply, a fact. "The King of Fashion," Paul Poiret, borrowed from the exoticism of the Ballets Russes, and Yves Saint Laurent created couture collections in homage to painters like Piet Mondrian and Georges Braque (examples of which are now on view at the Seattle Art Museum). The Spring 2017 collections, too, were rife with artful touches. Some of these were collaborations—artist Francis Upritchard provided the designs for Peter Pilotto’s jeweled patches, and French graffiti artists Pisco Logik and Vincent Dacquin tagged pieces at Faith Connexion. But there isn’t always a one-to-one relationship between starting and end point. As Pierpaolo Piccioli, who researched medieval art before his debut solo show at Valentino, told Sarah Mower: “I like to know my history, and then forget it.”
