Food & Fashion

Karlie Kloss in Dolce & Gabbana - VOGUE Korea

Hello Hello Hello!!!!

My goodness it has been such a long time since I've been on my little blog. How have you all been? I'm not going to lie, apart from being crazy busy with work, I've definitely been soaking up my fav city during its greatest season. Last weekend alone I managed my way through four NY exhibitions: The Met's Schiaparelli and Prada - Impossible Conversations, James Franco's film launch at the New Museum, Cindy Sherman at the MoMA, and Chanel's Little Black Jacket in Soho. Alas, I couldn't get this post up sooner with all my gallery scouring and such.

Anyway, I'm super excited to be posting today's illustration since it was inspired by my beautiful brainiac bestie Emma Kadar-Penner and her thesis topic Food Motifs in Fashion and Textile Design. Miss K.P. just recently returned from a conference in Atlanta where she presented her genius thesis. From the second I caught a glimpse of her exhibit booth, I knew I found inspiration for my next blog post. Suddenly my desire to paint something from Dolce & Gabbana's SS12 collection fit within a food and fashion historical context.

Emma's abstract details:

"Louis XIV understood the economic possibilities of both fashion and food, capitalizing on these industries to synonymize France with luxury. By the end of the seventeenth-century, concepts of haute cuisine and haute couture came to define France's identity as an international arbiter of taste...the oddness of this pairing is why designers have chosen to incorporate food motifs into their designs - the surreal absurdity, playful humor, and unlikely juxtaposition create appealing and commercial fashion moments."

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you might remember my posts Living Laduree or Macaron Marie where I advocated that food and fashion are not separate but the same in a life of style. I think Emma does an amazing job supporting this argument with countless examples throughout history where designers have used food as their primary source of inspiration. It is clear in Dolce and Gabbana's SS12 collection that they too understand how food can be both luxurious and every bit surreal/humorous when sent down the runway.

If any of you are interested in delving further into the topic of food and fashion, feel free to email Emma at emmakpenner@gmail.com!!

Wishing you all a beautiful week ahead.

Lots of love,

Meag xx