Fashion meets art: Calvin Klein Exhibits Andy Warhol

New York - Andy Warhol has occupied the creative mind of Raf Simons ever since he arrived at Calvin Klein in late 2016 with the mandate to restore relevancy to the the once-great American powerhouse, and now the artist occupies space in Calvin Klein’s Manhattan headquarters at 205 W 39th St.

In a custom-built industrial-style gallery on the ground floor in the spot where runway shows are held, “Shadows,” a series of the artist’s abstract unframed canvases hang edge to edge along the four white walls. Four benches are arranged in the center of the room to allow full range contemplation of the paintings which have not been exhibited in New York for twenty years and which coincide with a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art entitled “Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again.”

Calvin Klein shows Andy Warhol “Shadows”

When Simons was hired, Calvin Klein still mattered financially, but the house’s 15 minutes of fame seemed over. It lacked urgency, energy, and audacity, characteristics that Andy Warhol’s art has in abundance, and through entering into a collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation extending for three years, Simons has made the artist’s work a significant part of his re-imagining of the brand.

To coincide with the original 1979 exhibition of the paintings Warhol wrote in New York magazine, “This show will be like all the others. The reviews will be bad––my reviews always are. But the reviews of the party will be terrific.” Although the series was created of 102 panels. the Calvin Klein space accommodates about half that number but demonstrate the artist’s interest in the serial repetition of images, in this case large-scale silkscreens of sweeping paint gestures using a sponge mop which vary in color from canvas to canvas.

Simons told the NY Times last month, “I liked the idea of connecting an American major brand to an American major artist, whose body of work spoke about things very relevant to Calvin Klein.” Currently, Warhol imagery appears on Calvin Klein underwear, denim, towels and tableware.

Fashion has long fostered a close bond with art (Raf Simons also works regularly with Sterling Ruby), from Schiaparelli’s 1930’s collaboration with Salvador Dalí, to Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Piet Mondrian collection, to Damian Hirst’s insects crawling across Alexander McQueen’s chiffon in 2013. And Warhol already made an appearance on Gianni Versace’s 1991 Pop Art runway when a bejeweled Marilyn Monroe hugged the supermodel curves of Naomi Campbell.

But Warhol’s message seems to have renewed appeal in our influencer era, with a reality TV star for a president, and one can’t help imagining Warhol himself would be in his element, delving into the shallow waters of fame via Instagram, pouting for selfies with the Edie Sedgwicks of the blogosphere, and commenting on the thrill of clocking up followers and likes with Gen Z nonchalance.

Andy Warhol “Shadows” is on show at Calvin Klein Inc until December 15th 2018.

Fashion editor Jackie Mallon is also an educator and author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion industry.

Photos calvinklein.us and FashionUnited.