CHARLES ARNOLDI
CHARLES ARNOLDI MEETS ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
ORIGINAL VERSION PUBLISHED Los Angeles Magazine/FEBRUARY 2023
Art and fashion aren’t exactly strange bedfellows – even though one’s conceptual, the other, literal and functional. Supposedly, anyway. But that’s what surmounting limitations is all about, right? Way back in 1937, Elsa Schiaparelli did collabs with surrealists like Salvador Dal: their lobster dress, based on Dali’s 1936 lobster phone. They ushered in a brand new medium: fashion as art, art as fashion. In more modern times,. Rei Kawakuba of Comme des Garcons – who’s always looked at fashion – and fragrance – as a companion piece to art, the work of artists – was inspired by avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham with her “Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body” spring collection of 1997. New York artist Richard Prince created Louis Vuitton bags with LV’s then designer Marc Jacobs in 2008; afterwards, a pattern was set: next, Jacobs worked with Takashi Murakami, via LV, to create those iconic “multicolore” bags, replacing the coffee color of the LV monogram with 33 colors and original anime figures. LV has since created bags with such international art world figures as Jeff Koons and Yayoi Kusama of big dots fame. Miuccia Prada has worked with fine and commercial artists on clothes and accessories, on both her Prada and MiuMiu collections. Even fairytale graphics designers and animators.
But how many L.A. artists have ventured into fabric or clothes encounters? Up till a decade ago, Southern California wasn’t exactly considered a bastion of sophistication and chic; it was better known for Juicy sweatsuits, Ugg boots and mini’s, hair extensions, nose jobs and motorcycle jackets. Breaking ground into this strange new territory was painter Alex Israel, who has collab-ed with Louis Vuitton for years on both perfume packaging and the brand’s Arty Capucine elevated handbag collection. While a number of L.A. visual artists have made some forays into fashion: painter Sterling Ruby founded streetwear brand S.R. Studio in 2019; Venice based creative director/graphic artist Eli Russell Linnetz created ERL with Comme des Garcons, then showed a collection with Dior Hommes a few years ago – none have been particularly mainstream. Or major.
But Guggenheim award-winning Venice painter/sculptor Chuck Arnoldi – long associated with famed 1970’s Venice artists Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston and Laddie John Dill – was not one of these fashion friendly types. So how did the prolific Venice artist come to collaborate with famed British luxe label Alexander McQueen? The late McQueen (1969 to 2010), fashion’s original bad boy, was known for immaculate master tailoring (worn by Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Obama) as well as darkly fantastical silhouettes; his successor Sarah Burton has followed in his goth couturier footsteps till 2023, dressing Lady Gaga, designing Kate Middleton’s wedding gown.
“I got a call from people in London who work for McQueen,” says Arnoldi at his spacious Venice studio some months ago . “They’d seen a painting of mine they’d wanted to use to create dresses for women, suits and t-shirts for men. I still have no idea how they found my painting.” The only problem was: “I had no clue who or what Alexander McQueen was.” When Arnoldi received sketches of black and white pattered dresses, t’s, mens’ suits, scarves, “I said to my wife (novelist) Katie Arnoldi, ‘this stuff looks pretty good.’ So I told them, sure – use it. I tend to wear John Varvatos and jeans – that’s where my fashion knowledge stops.’”
Apparently McQueen’s team has never collaborated with a living artist; his pieces in their pre-spring/summer 2023 collection were titled “brushstroke.” “I told them I didn’t care about the money,” Arnoldi admits. “My lawyer told me I should have asked for four times the amount discussed!” But the collab proved worth it when a perfectly cut silk dress with full ruffled skirt in Arnoldi’s original black and white – and added strokes of powder pink – arrived, fitting Katie Arnoldi (author of “Chemical Pink,” “The Wentworths,” “Point Dume”) to a T. “Whenever Chuck’s honored, I’ll be wearing it,” she laughed. Given how prolific Arnoldi is (his pal Frank Gehry recently told him: “Chuck! You’ve just got too much work!!), that not only has been, but could continue to be often. Will the artist be wearing one of the McQueen/Arnold brushstroke mens’ suits himself? “Maybe I’ll wear the t-shirt,” he laughed.
Merle Ginsberg is a fashion writer and television personality who was one of the judges on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the first two seasons of the show. She is also an award winning journalist and writer, and a NY Times bestselling author. She started her long media career in NY at the Village Voice, MTV and Rolling Stone. Then, moving to L.A., she wrote for People, Us, L.A. Times and W Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, where she presided over the West Coast bureau for 12 years, also contributing to L.A. Magazine, Jane and Details. She also served as Senior Style Editor of The Hollywood Reporter.
