The work of the fashion designers in our days is a form of art, though at first sight one might say such a frivolous thing like fashion has little to do with what we call art. But like the work of the artists, the work of the designers is an act of creation. And the bond between the two of them has a long history and goes both ways: many times fashion is reflected in art thus becoming a part; even more often art influenced the fashion.
We can trace this bond long time ago. It started with the prehistoric goddesses statuettes. Some of them show a network of thin lines which historians established to be the representation of the clothes.
From that time on there is a multitude of art representation of the fashion. We can find fashion reflected in the Egyptian, Roman or Greek statues of the Antiquity and in the Gothic statues of the 12th century churches. We can find it in a lot of famous paintings like the ones of Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, Titzian or Pieter Bruegel the Eldest. We can find it in a painting which is a veritable lesson of perspective, like Velazquez' Las Meninas and can be also considered a veritable lesson of the mid 17th century fashion.
Art influenced fashion even more often. The heavy and complicated Baroque made the clothes of that time to look just as heavy. Rococo remained complicated but the forms became lighter and so did the clothes and the textiles used to make them. In the 20th century the Cubism had echoes in the 1920's tubular dresses. And these are just a few examples.
Today, in the era of fast communication and television shapes and patterns of the clothes are inspired by the art of different times and areas. Artists are called many times to help designers. Dali created clothes as well as textile designs for the designer Elsa Schiaparelli and they all bear his unique stamp. From women's dress to any mens coat everything is made to serve the necessities and perspectives of our times. And that perspective influences the art and the fashion all the same.