Daniel Arsham, Fashion’s Go-To Artist, Launches His Own Brand – BOF
Wed 22 Jun
LONDON — Daniel Arsham shot to art-stardom with a concept he calls “fictional archeology,” using materials like sand, selenite crystals and volcanic ash to render objects from the recent past as eroded relics from a lost civilisation. Populating his postmodern Pompeii are icons of pop and consumer culture — from Ninetendo’s Game Boy to Pokémon characters to the Ferrari from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — recast as timeless artefacts.
The approach has helped make Arsham fashion’s go-to artist. In the last five years, the multidisciplinary creator — whose work spans art, architecture, design, film and performance — has collaborated with the likes of Dior, Tiffany, Rimowa, Adidas and Uniqlo, often lending their products the gravitas of geological time, as well as limited-edition buzz.
Now, Arsham is launching a fashion label of his own, Objects IV Life. Its debut drop, a collection of unisex workwear, will land today at Kith’s Paris flagship and online. The clothes reflect Arsham’s personal style. “Things I would wear in the studio,” he said. “I designed them for me.”
Fashion labels routinely align themselves with artists to elevate their brands. But Arsham’s projects stand apart for the way they seamlessly unite art world credibility and mass appeal.