As artists and curators look beyond traditional institutions, fashion has become an often-irresistible platform for generating cross-discipline conversations and outlets of expression. Whether creative types are appearing festively attired in social media posts highlighting exhibition openings, or sitting front row at fashion shows, the communal appreciation of medium, meaning and materiality has become undeniable.
While assembling the Canada’s Best Dressed List for 2024, which highlights this country’s visual arts community, many of the subjects mentioned similar favourite designers, including NorBlack NorWhite, an artisanal brand specializing in the use of hand-dyed fabrics.
Such attention to detail and respect for fibre-related artistry are key reasons why the creatives on our list favour certain brands over others: There’s an admiration for and acknowledgment of labour, ideas and integrity that aligns with that of their own practices.
“I think artists gravitate towards our work, because they resonate with it from an aesthetic standpoint, and then, on a deeper level, from a values standpoint,” says Mriga Kapadiya, one of NorBlack NorWhite’s co-founders.
Here, the art world’s sartorial stars divulge what drives their dressing habits.
HOW WE DID IT
To compile this list, a group of Globe and Mail editors and contributors reached out to their networks of wardrobe watchers, dug deep into their social-media feeds and surveyed 2023′s nominees to create a roster of candidates. After narrowing the contenders down to the final list, photographers in Calgary, Winnipeg, Burlington, Toronto, Montreal, New York and Ibiza were commissioned to capture the subjects’ signature styles. Have a best-dressed suggestion of your own? Post a photo of your fashionable contender to Instagram and tag the picture @globestyle and #GlobeStyleBestDressed.
Additional credits: Editing by Andrew Sardone and Domini Clark. Art direction and print design by Benjamin MacDonald. Fashion editor: Nadia Pizzimenti. Digital design and development by Christopher Manza and Mackenzie Lad.
