(Michael)
I’ve had clients who make and who sell wearable art for
thirty years. The business was thriving
in the 1970s and 1980s. It is gone
today. There are virtually no outlets
any more. If you want wearable art go
to Tokyo or Tel Aviv, the last two remaining places with genuine vitality of
any sort.
What happened? Three
things appear to me to explain the disappearance of wearable art. First, we’ve
lost the hippy-generated esthetic that said you could wear art anywhere any
time. Now, opening night at the Opera
or in Hollywood is the only scene left.
Second, without the market to buy wearable art, the retail distribution system has disappeared.
Third, the artists themselves have migrated either out of the business, into a large individual clientele of their own, or they have become high-end artists, architects and designers.
What we are left with today are artists who create wearable art (and are embarrassed by the term) who have exhibits at galleries and sell on the Internet.
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