Phillip Toledano, Fashion Exposed

Is fashion art? As a former fashion designer I would tell you “yes – I truly believe fashion is art”. The same amount of artistic expression can go into a fashion silhouette as into a painting. An exquisite dress can look as beautiful as a sculpture; or as experimental as an artist’s sketch. A good fashion shop can be as exciting and relevant as an art gallery. Of course clothes are designed to be practical, and obviously not to go on a wall or be put behind glass. But you could easily state that some of today’s fashion collections are more artistic than the conceptual art trash you sometimes find in museums or art galleries. Fashion can tell you a lot about people and the times they live(d) in. By reflecting changes in popular culture, fashion fulfills another traditional function of art. Fashion covers many different domains and techniques of "arts" such as design, music, theatre and photography.

This fashion shooting by NYC photographer Phillip Toledano is a great, ironic take on the seriousness of the classic art world and museum universe. Toledano was born in London on December 6th, 1968 to a French Moroccan mother and an American father. He received his first camera at the age of eleven, after he gave his parents a convincing presentation on the merits of photography. Since those days, Toledano has been taking slightly odd pictures. His photography career was interrupted by a 10-year stint as an art director working at advertising agencies. A few years ago, Phillip Toledano was back full time in picture-taking bizz. He is a strong believer that everything should start with a strong idea, whether it is a series or a single image. He also believes that a photograph should be like an unfinished sentence – with space for questions. So far his work was published in two books, “Bankrupt” and “Phonesex” and a third is underway. You can check out his amazing portfolio on www.mrtoledano.com.