“Fashion Art”A dialogue between concept and reality

As fashion evolves to where it is today， its function is no longer limited to wear-ability and aesthetics， instead， it has become an important element to highlight personal characteristics， social status， aesthetic taste， and to distinguish social groups and features of socialization. Besides， the symbolic meaning conveyed by fashion has become more prominent. With the change of culture， economy and politics， and the development of technology and materials， it has been gradually separated from the functional needs in the traditional sense and is extending to the field of public art. Meanwhile， its features of the times are also revealed. “Fashion Art”， however， is an art form that expresses ideas directly with fashion as its carrier. Its obvious difference from fashion lies in wear-ability. For fashion art， it can be considered that wear-ability is no longer its essential attribute. In the last decade， “Fashion Art” has entered China with a strong artistic force. Artists have taken the initiative to participate in creation and regular exhibitions， which has become an artistic phenomenon with initial international influence.

China has a long history in traditional culture， as it has been called “the country of dress and righteousness” since ancient times. The splendid culture has formed high-level moral principles， complete etiquette norms and excellent traditional virtues. The profound cultural heritage represented by“civilization” has accumulated vast space for reconstruction. Therefore， from my point of view， Chinese “Fashion Art” must embrace a distinct local temperament in order to be more international. From the analysis of Chinese symbolic elements and traditional elements， we can draw nutrition from traditional colors， traditional pattern symbols， elements and the spirit of traditional clothing and costume. Chinese “Fashion Art” should be based on the traditional context to carry out research. At present， it should integrate ancient and modern forms of expression to construct modern fashion art language， in order to seek a way of integration and inheritance of traditional culture and contemporary art， and thus create contemporary“Fashion Art” works with Chinese national brand.

The main raw materials of my “Fashion Art” works in recent years were silk from China. “The fragrance of books with silky whispers” series began in 2010 what were inspired by the beauty of ancient Chinese books， with tough silk used in Chinese calligraphy and painting as the main bottom material. Chinas silk industry has a history of 5，000 years， and silk has been the most aristocratic writing material since ancient times. With silk as the material， fashion art as the direction， culture as the carrier， the collection creates the scene of contemplating ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings in the narration of clothing language. “The fragrance of books with silky whispers” series are permanently collected by the China National Silk Museum in virtue of applying digital inkjet technology in expressing its exquisite， and the unique oriental culture manifested. Later， I created “The fragrance of books with silky whispers – A thousand miles”. This collection was a continuation of “The fragrance of books with silky whispers”， as well as a salute to painting of the “A thousand miles away”， which was the only extant long scroll by Wang Ximeng， a young talent in the Northern Song Dynasty. Similarly， it was also inspired by the scroll. With the help of fashion art， it narrated our infinite memory of ancient books and paintings. The outline of the mountain was created by burning with sandalwood； in the meantime， the green landscape in the painting was displayed with the technique of an embroidery called “Dazi embroidery” in Suzhou embroidery， thus a new visual expression was obtained in fashion art （see Figures. 7 and 8）. This collection combines contemporary concepts with traditional techniques to extend the performance dimension of fashion art. The six pieces in this collection are permanently collected by China National Silk Museum and Suzhou Silk Museum.

If art can be productive， so can “Fashion Art”. With art as the medium， “Fashion Art” itself is avant-garde and conceptual， simultaneously； it also has its unique market and commercial value. I think that “Fashion Art” as a concept expression of cross-border art can be incorporated into todays society with more patterns of manifestation. Its value is reflected in the fact that this art form itself is a grounded expression language. If todays large-scale business zone is also a creative and dynamic art community， then I deem it that， as a unique creative form of art expression in China， “Fashion Art” will be integrated into the community in virtue of this platform and be welcomed by more people.

For the creation of “Fashion Art”， there is no innovation without inheritance， and inheritance means sublation. Only by being open-minded to the latest achievements in various fields of art， science and technology， sincerely respecting tradition， and boldly envisioning the future， can we truly reach the ideal state of creating---the dialogue between concept and reality.

A brief introduction to the author

ZHANG Tingting. Associate Professor of China Womens University， and Executive Director of International Fashion Art Alliance. Main research interests： Fashion Art， Fiber Art.

In recent years， The personal works have been widely displayed in art galleries and museums， including of the Palace Museum， the Ancestral Temple Art Museum （Beijing）， Beijing 798-A12T Contemporary Art Center， Beijing Museum of Art， Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum， Architecture Art Museum， Today Art Museum， YanHuang Art Museum， Henan Art Museum， Hongik University （Seoul）， etc. State University of New York （UAlbany） and so on. Many works have been permanently collected by China Silk Museum and Suzhou Silk Museum.