From Peggy Guggenheim to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Look Back at Art History’s Most Fashionable People

We're celebrating New York Fashion Week with a look back at the style stars of art history.

Artist Grayson Perry poses for a portrait at Sydney Opera House. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images.

 

These days, you’re as likely to see a catwalk in a museum as you are a sculpture, and in the next few months, visitors will be treated to a surge in exhibitions focused on the work and legacy of influential fashion designers, including Balenciaga, Dior, and Rodarte.

With the onset of New York Fashion Week 2018, we’ve looked back through history at the art-world movers and shakers whose sartorial flair would make Bill Cunningham’s bicycle come to a screeching halt.

 

Peggy Guggenheim

American art collector Peggy Guggenheim at her home in Venice, 1961. Photo by Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

The grand dame of art collectors, Peggy Guggenheim was known for her keen eye, and her eye-catching accessories, many of which were gifts from her artist friends. Guggenheim memorably wore two different earrings—one bearing a tiny painting by Yves Tanguy and the other a sculptural piece by Alexander Calder—meant to signify her appreciation of both Surrealism and Abstraction.

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dali, 29th December 1964. Photo by Terry Fincher/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Salvador Dali, December 29, 1964. Photo by Terry Fincher/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

DalĂ­ perfected the art of accessorizing. In his impeccably tailored three-piece suits, an ever-present metal-capped cane, and, of course, his gravity-defying handlebar mustache, he cut a striking figure walking the streets.

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe.Photo: Courtesy of YouTube.

Robert Mapplethorpe. Photo: Courtesy of YouTube.

The photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was a consummate style maven, blurring the lines of gender when he began frequenting East Village haunts alongside Patti Smith in the 1970s. A memorable Vanity Fair account of Mapplethorpe described him as “pretty, but tough…in a black, belted trench coat, a purple-and-white silk scarf tied around his neck, his hair a crown of angelic Pre-Raphaelite curls.”

Niki de Saint Phalle

The French sculptor, painter and film-maker, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 - 2002), photographed with one of her sculptures. Photo: Courtesy of the Norman Parkinson gallery.

The French sculptor, painter, and filmmaker, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002), photographed with one of her sculptures. Photo: Courtesy of the Norman Parkinson gallery.

The late French artist Niki de Saint Phalle dabbled in modeling in her teenage years, before making a name for herself as a Nouveau Réaliste artist along with Jean Tinguely, Christo, Yves Klein, and Arman. Her colorful Nana sculptures had a renaissance on the runway, in Maria Grazia Chiuri’s collection for Dior last year.

Joseph Beuys 

Joseph Beuys, copyright the artist’s estate, courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac.

Joseph Beuys’s legacy is tied to the mythic tale of his near-death experience in World War II, and his rescue by local nomads after crashing his plane. Beuys claimed that his rescuers wrapped him in animal fat and felt, two materials which became central to his artwork and personal style; he is known for wearing oversized felt suits complemented by a shepherd’s crook and a bowler hat.

Frida Kahlo

Nickolas Muray, Frida, Coyoacan (1938). This portrait was taken by Frida Kahlo's lover, Nickolas Murray. Courtesy of the Nickolas Muray Photo Archives.

Nickolas Muray, Frida, Coyoacan (1938). This portrait was taken by Frida Kahlo’s lover, Nickolas Murray. Courtesy of the Nickolas Muray Photo Archives.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo cultivated a fashion sense that has inspired legions of fans. In fact, just last year the Dallas Museum of Art welcomed throngs of lookalikes hoping to set a Guinness Record. Visitors to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum can see the artist’s clothing, cosmetics, and even her prosthetic leg, on view in “Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up.”

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol. Photo: Express Newspapers/Getty Images.

It is impossible to think of the Pop artist without imagining his white-blond “fright wig,” dark tinted sunglasses, and all black ensembles. As the proprietor of The Factory, Warhol’s aesthetic continues to define urban chic.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat at Area, New York, 1984. Courtesy of Jennifer Goode.

Like his friend Andy Warhol, Basquiat’s personal style is inextricably linked from his identity as an artist. While Warhol was cool and removed, Basquiat’s wild dreadlocks, bare feet, and paint-splattered designer suits resonate with his frenetic paintings.

Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama with recent works her new museum in Tokyo, Japan on January 16, 2017. Photo by Anna Fifield/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Anna Fifield/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

At 89 years old, Yayoi Kusama is the top-selling female artist in the world—and a veritable fashion icon. The Japanese artist wears a kool-aid-colored wig to accent her bold frocks. The contrasting colors and eye-warping patterns are the same ones that adorn everything from her paintings to pumpkins.

David Hockney

Left, Hockney, courtesy of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artimage. Right: Photo by Hannelore Foerster/Getty Images.

Another octogenarian and art-market darling, David Hockney hasn’t changed his style much over the decades, favoring polo shirts and khakis in the same hues of his poolside California paintings. At museum openings, a bow tie completes the ensemble, and in later years, he’s adopted suspenders and cardigans.

Thelma Golden and Duro Olowu

Thelma Golden and Duro Olowu. Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan, ©Patrick McMullan.

Thelma Golden is the curatorial powerhouse behind the Studio Museum in Harlem. She’s always dressed to the nines in headline-grabbing, pattern mixing, jauntily colored garments. Her husband is the London-based designer Duro Olowu and the clothier behind her photo-friendly outfits; he was named New Designer of the Year in 2005, and the list of A-list celebrities who favor his dresses include Michelle Obama, Solange Knowles, and Iris Apfel.

 

Grayson Perry, aka Claire

Grayson Perry in London. Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images.

The Turner-prize winning artist Grayson Perry is known for his outsize personality and his fashion-palette alter ego, Claire. While Perry can often be found in work pants and oxford shirts, Claire is never turned out in anything less than stacked platforms, full makeup, and some sort of tulle or sequined confection, often gifted to the artist by student designers based in London.

Hrafnhildur ArnardĂłttir, aka Shoplifter

Hrafnhildur “Shoplifter” Arnardottir. Photo by Mireya Acierto/Getty Images.

Shoplifter constructs installations and sculptures made of neon-colored hair, one of the hallmarks of her personal aesthetic. Her maximalist-vibe will be on display at the 2019 Venice Biennale, where she is representing Iceland.

Tony Gum

Tony Gum, "Free Da Gum." Courtesy of Christopher Moller Gallery.

Tony Gum, “Free Da Gum.” Courtesy of Christopher Moller Gallery.

Tony Gum is taking both the art and fashion worlds by storm. In 2017, she won the Miami Beach Pulse Prize and earned the coveted title of “coolest girl in Cape Town” according to Vogue.

Pari Ehsan

Pari Ehsan with sculptures by Isa Genzken. Photo: Tylor HĂłu via Instagram.

Pari Ehsan has made a career out of combining fashion and art as the force behind @PariDust, where she dons everything from couture to streetwear alongside artworks by leading contemporary artists.

 

RaĂşl de Nieves

Artist Raul De Nieves attends the Whitney Museum’s annual Spring Gala. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.

The Mexican-born artist RaĂşl de Nieves credits his early exposure to sewing and crochet for the current success (and market fever) of his intricately beaded sculptures and fantastical installations.