The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced that it will be building on its artistic project ‘Britain Creates’ as part of the UK Fashion 2012 programme. The Fashion 2012 platform will be celebrating London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year.

Fashion & Art Collusion

The project, which BFC will be promoting, is named ‘Britain Creates 2012: Fashion & Art Collusion. The project will be pioneered by the British Fashion Council and Bazaar Fashion Arts Foundation, whilst working closely with the Mayor of London.

Fashion & Art Collusion is a great opportunity for Britain to celebrate the relationship that has been forged between the fashion industry and the visual arts.

Some of Britain’s most iconic designers have teamed up with a selection of contemporary artists, including: Hussein Chalayan & Gavin Turk, Giles Deacon & Jeremy Deller, Mary Katrantzou & Mark Titchner, Matthew Williamson & Mat Collishaw, Nicholas Kirkwood & Simon Periton, Paul Smith & Charming Baker, Peter Pilotto & Francis Upritchard, and Jonathan Saunders & Jess Flood-Paddock. More creative ‘good and the great’ are expected to join the throng.

The Britain Creates 2012 events will help make up part of the London 2012 Festival, which lasts 12 weeks and runs nationwide from the 21st June to the 9th September and features artists from Britain and across the world.

There will also be a book to accompany the exhibition, with a foreword written by Lucy Yeomans, Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, and an introduction by popular fashion writer Iain R. Webb. The book will be named an ‘exhibition in a box’ and is to be produced with Booth-Clibborn Editions. ‘Exhibition in a box’ will feature the artists and designers along with their sketches, collaboration suggestions, photographic documentation of progress, artists and designer portraits, which will be specially commissioned, and a poster set of all the finished works in their artistic glory.

Harold Tillman CBE, Chairman BFC, states, “2012 is such a momentous year. The Britain Creates 2012: Fashion & Art Collusion project to celebrate the London 2012 Festival is the perfect opportunity to showcase unique talent within the UK in the creative industries, and echoes the special relationships within. The pieces of art and accompanying book will leave a great legacy to reflect on this special year.”

Boris Johnson (London’s Mayor) commented,” As London Fashion Week has just shown, our designers are a tour de force whose talent is important for our economy and the capital’s reputation around the world. As one of the greatest centers for culture and creativity, London is the proud home to some of the best designers and artists in the worl,d and this melding of two dynamic strands will produce an exciting exhibition that will be a highlight of our celebrations for 2012.”