Forget fashion week – this art show has style inspiration in spades
There is no official dress code to be observed when attending Frieze, the globally renowned art fair taking place in London’s Regents Park until Sunday. But you could describe one: fashion-conscious, yet cultured, ideally with a price tag as high as the works on the walls.
It’s an environment that attracts a true mix of attendees – royalty and sports stars, millionaire gallery owners and penniless yet creative students. Sightings on day one included Princess Beatrice and Emma Raducanu, Benedict Cumberbatch and Roksanda Ilincic.
If you’re going, you’ll want to plan your outfit accordingly. The street style watching here is as good as at any fashion week – but with an artsy twist. It’s T-shirts and Sambas with the biggest designer trophy bags, or fashion-meets-art pieces, dripping in Dries Van Noten, or old Celine.
The woman to take heed from is Eva Langret, the artistic director of Frieze London who arrived wearing a dip-dyed Lemaire denim shirt dress (£1,500) with an oil paint blue Van Noten mac over the top. Expensive, yes, but never flashy.
Dressing to impress needn’t require an art dealer’s budget. Application of bold colour is one easy and cost-free way to turn heads. “I dressed with a terracotta blouse to match my ceramics and black pearls from Margarita Island,” says the Venezuelan artist Lucia Pizzani, who is showing her sculptures with the Cecilia Brunson Projects gallery. “I think at Frieze there is a monochrome tendency, or carefully chosen colours… and I always wear comfortable shoes.”
Indeed high heels are the only no-no for this crow. Teetering stilettos are a marker of the uninitiated – far better to clomp around in chunky Chanel and Prada loafers.
“There’s a lot of walking at Frieze,” confirms author Zeena Shah. “I opted for my comfy Chanel loafers. I definitely dressed like the art with some painterly trousers from Stine Goya.”
Here are five styling ideas to take from this year’s attendees.
Be bold with colour
Follow artist Lucia Pizzani’s advice and try out an eye-catching colour combination. Pizzani’s tie belt brings more red tones into her look, styled with her terracotta blouse. Attending Frieze over the weekend? Bonus points if you can find an artwork in a matching or complementary colour with which to coordinate your social media selfies.
Pick a stand-out accessory
Whether it’s a pair of sunglasses in an abstract shape or a jaunty art teacher scarf, the application of accessories at Frieze is sports-like. Benedict Cumberbatch doubled up, matching his burnt orange frames to his neckerchief; the orange smartly then sets nicely against his T-shirt in a complementary sky blue colour.
Try painterly prints
Wearing a brushstroke print is another fun way of nodding to the theme of the occasion. Think of it as the equivalent of wearing florals to the Chelsea Flower Show. Zeena Shah picked out specific colours from her Stine Goya floral trousers and accentuated them via her knitted cardigan and bag.
Wear a work of art
Blue Gaydon, a Creative and Brand Consultant, stood out from the crowds in a woven leather jacket by London designer Martina Spetlova. With a statement jacket like that, the rest of the outfit could be as simple as jeans and a T-shirt.
Monochrome works
…But give it a dramatic twist. Bianca Jagger’s all-black outfit looks anything but boring thanks to her cape-coat layers, suede boots and leather gloves. Wearing one colour from head-to-toe is a popular tactic amongst the Frieze set, and utilising pieces with an interesting silhouette can make the overall outfit look more sculptural.
And more style at Frieze
