Exploring the Influence of Cubism Art Movement on Fashion

All art forms influence and inspire each other. Fashion too does not exist in isolation. Fashion is one of the important art forms which can be influenced and inspired by paintings, sculpture, architecture, music etc. Cubism was an avant-garde modern art movement which had a huge impact on all art forms. Cubism was characterized by simultaneous perspective, geometrical fractured forms, muted depthless colors etc. Later part of Cubism was marked by the development of newer techniques like collage, photomontage and assemblage where textures was added to the composition in the form of sand, letters and other found objects in bright colors. The present study was undertaken to compare Cubism paintings with costumes of this era to evaluate the possibilities of interrelationship between fashion and cubism. Garments of this era were analyzed for color, silhouettes, embellishments and fabrics to find parallel influences with paintings during 1906 to 1930. From the above study, it was found that Paintings during Cubism influenced silhouette, color, texture and embellishments of the costumes worn in this era. Synthetic cubism gave rise to newer techniques like bias cut, creating textures with pin tucks, beads, and lace with creation of new fabrics like Rayon. Thus, proving that there is parallel influence of Cubism art movement on fashion.