Merchants of Style: Art and Fashion After Warhol

Description

Merchants of Style explores the accelerating convergence of art and fashion, looking at the interplay of artists and designers - and the role of institutions, both public and commercial - that has brought about this marriage of aesthetic industries. Natasha Degen argues that one figure more than any other anticipated this moment: Andy Warhol. Beginning with an overview of art and fashion's deeply entwined histories before picking up where Warhol left off, Merchants of Style tells the story of art's emboldened forays into commerce and fashion's growing embrace of art. As the two industries draw closer together than ever before, this book addresses urgent questions about what the future holds.

Natasha Degen is Professor and Chair of Art Market Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. She edited The Market (2013) and has written for the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, Artforum and Frieze.

'Merchants of Style is an astute exploration of the merging of culture and commerce. Natasha Degen brilliantly explains how a new generation of artists and fashion designers have expanded the conceptual parameters of art.' - Jeffrey Deitch, art dealer and curator, director Jeffrey Deitch Gallery; 'Degen's book dives deep into the intertwining of art and fashion; from artist-designed handbags to luxury goods corporations appropriating the symbolic aura of art. A fascinating account of two apparently dissimilar, but in fact highly symbiotic, worlds.' - Georgina Adam, editor-at-large The Art Newspaper and Financial Times contributor, and author of The Rise and Rise of the Private Art Museum; 'Wonderfully researched, written and documented. Highly recommended for anyone interested in a well-researched history of fashion, art, or both.' - Don Thompson, Nabisco Brands Professor of Marketing, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto and author of The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, and The Curious Economics of Luxury Fashion.