Fashion: Arte Y Moda

The Kennedy Center recently hosted a festival of artistic performances called Artes de Cuba.

The performances celebrated Cuban art in many forms, including music, theater, film, dance, painting and fashion.  

We attended a performance on the Millennium Stage called Arte Y Moda (Art and Fashion).  It combined paintings by Cuban artists and fashions by Cuban and designers.  The event was staged as a fashion show and we had seats along the cat walk. 

Two things made the performance especially fascinating.  One is that each of the fashions was inspired by a painting.   An image of the painting was projected on the stage's backdrop, while the model walked or danced along the cat walk to display the costume.  

The other fascinating aspect was the source of the fashions presented on stage.  All of the clothing was made using recycled, repurposed found materials.  

You can imagine the fashion show was not your typical affair.  Rather than imagine, you can see for yourself.

Below are images of the original works of art and the fashions they inspired.     

And here some more photos of the fashions, all made with recycled materials.

One of the most interesting pairings of art and fashion is the one pictured below.

Below is the model with the fashion inspired by the Mendive painting.  

The model's skirt unfolded into an image of the painting.  Check it out.  

The finale of Arte Y Moda,with all of the models and designers on stage. 

We enjoyed the show.  You can see the entire show by clicking here.