When art becomes fashion

COLLECTIBLE: DESIGNER JULIAN TURNS SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS INTO WEARABLE GALLERIES

- Hein Kaiser

Designer Julian Smith, also known simply as Julian, has turned the works of major South African artists into wearable fashion. The project, a collaboration with Johannesburg’s Art Eye Gallery, prints the works of the artists onto fabric, turning fashion into a kinetic gallery about town.

“It is very exciting because each garment is different,” Julian said. “You never cut the fabric the same way twice, so every garment is unique in more aspects than simply its graphic.”

He said that the project is not so much simply about fashion but celebrating South African art. Each artist brings something new, he said.

“We have worked with black and white sophistication, bold bright colours and graphic contemporary abstracts. Nothing looks the same.”