Celebrate The Beauty Of Art In Fashion With Our July 2019 Issue

Fashion and art are the very fabric that clothe my body on a daily basis. By saying this, I am not audaciously elevating myself to a Renoir or Gauguin. Indeed, I would be most happy to wear their work on my sleeve or any other part of my body. By saying the marriage of fashion and art has always been dear to me is to simply declare my love for print and colour. You can hardly find a day when I am not turned out in some sort of print—often splashed across my chest in bold, vivid flourishes. I’ve often said my Peranakan heritage is partly responsible for this. My late grandmother was always swathed in her kebaya and sarong, and my earliest memory of her is filled with a melange of tropical colour and foliage. It’s a memory I hold onto dearly, wonderfully tinted by the romance of time and the sepia of happy thoughts. Which brings me to this issue where we celebrate the beauty of art in fashion.

Our cover model, Toni Garrn, who’s a bit of an artist’s muse herself, has illustrations drawn all over her with an eye liner, and we’ve overlaid these images with brush strokes that converge with the drawn-on lines for a seamless blend of traditional and contemporary art. Turn to page 124 to see this modern day rendering of abstract Expressionism. If Pop Art is more your cup of cha, then you’ll love Garrn in all her statuesque splendour next to the cult works from L.A.’s Frieze Art Fair. She’s dressed in the best fall looks from America’s talented cohort of designers. Or if Impressionism is more your thing, the colourful delights on page 116 will enthrall. Florals blossom on romantic gowns, capes and coats to form a verdant canvas that’s as rich as Monet’s garden in Giverny.

Art truly has an incredible ability to feed your soul and evoke emotions, and fashion has often taken advantage of this to produce interesting, collaborative work. The newest It thing is installation art. “In a fashion context, installation art helps serve a purpose loftier than the hawking of a product. Because you can’t sell an installation, there is a layer of believable integrity.” Read Space Invaders on page 52 and see how this creative medium offers art and fashion connoisseurs a different experience. And finally, styling your crowning glory is an art form in itself. We have all the potions, lotions and solutions to keep your mane in tip top condition. Read our Hair Awards on page 90 and you’ll emerge with the skills to turn your tresses into works of pure artistry—whether it’s a Van Gogh asymmetric bun, Titian’s pre-Raphaelite curls or a graphic Mondrian bob, turn your keratin into 1,000 carats of shimmering brilliance.

—Kenneth Goh, Editor-in-Chief 

Download the digital edition from the App Store, Google Play or Magzter

Photographer: Yu Tsai

Stylist: Windy Aulia

Model: Toni Garrn/The Lions New York

Makeup and illustration: Anastasia Durasova/The Wall Group

Hair: Ben Skervin/The Wall Group

Manicure: Julie Kandelec/Bryan Bantry

Producer: Trever Swearingen/88 Phases

Digital technician: Jamie Magnifico

Digital artist: Luis Jaime/88 Phases

Photography assistants: Nick Parisse, Drake Patton

Styling assistant: Jessica Murray

Fashion intern: Marumi