Graffiti and fashion clashed this week when anti-consumerism activist Kidult sprayed the Marc Jacobs store in Paris with dollar signs as part of an on-going feud between the label and graffiti artist/vandal (it’s your call but it’s pretty clear what Jacobs thinks…). 

Jacobs has responded to what he views as antagonism by manufacturing and selling T-shirts depicting Kidult’s work, subverting the point of the anti-fashion graffiti protests entirely.

Of course, Jacobs has previously enjoyed symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationships with graffiti and street artists, particularly in his role as creative director of Louis Vuitton, where he paired up with the designer/artist Stephen Sprouse to create the neon-emblazoned Vuitton accessories and ready-to-wear that became a best-selling phenomenon.

And just this month, Louis Vuitton collaborated with London street artist Ben Eine on a limited-edition £465 silk Georgette scarf bearing letters in Eine’s distinctive spray-painted style. A spokesman for the house said, ‘Since its first collaboration with artist Stephen Sprouse, the graffiti culture remains dear to Louis Vuitton.’

Graffiti culture is dear to other, more up-and-coming brands too – like London knitwear label Sibling, which references contemporary artists, including Ben Eine, in its clothing, using imagery from Shoreditch’s most prevalent street artists. 

"Since its first collaboration with artist Stephen Sprouse, the graffiti culture remains dear to Louis Vuitton"

Co-founder Joe Bates explains: ‘Living in Shoreditch since the mid-1990s, the phenomena of English contemporary street art blossomed around us. It was a constant in the environment where we live and work and we began to reference it. I'm sure as new work is produced and new artists emerge it will be reflected in our work too. Directly or indirectly.’

An example of Sibling’s work that directly references street art is the label’s Rock Panda jumper, which features the signature panda logo of Pure Evil, an east London artist who draws his inspiration from the US West Coast graffiti scene. ‘When we worked with Pure Evil on his Rock Panda piece, our approach was exactly the same as working with established fine artists like Tim Noble and Sue Webster, whose neon self-portraits we interpreted in knit,’ says Bates. ‘But the graphic, illustrative nature of street art makes it perfect for print.’ 

"An Hermès Birkin bag became a statement of rebellion after a man commissioned the New York graffiti artists Mint & Serf to customise it"

Graffiti can combine with fashion in an altogether messier way too. Remember the moment when Shalom Harlow was spray-painted with yellow and black paint for Alexander McQueen spring/summer 1999? That seminal fashion piece was referencing the work of installation artist Rebecca Horn but the effect of daubed running paint was reminiscent of graffiti’s more primitive renderings. And this year an Hermès Birkin bag hit the headlines after a man commissioned the New York graffiti artists Mint & Serf to customise a plain white Birkin for his wife, transforming on of fashion’s most recognisable status symbols into a statement of rebellion. 

The merging of graphic art and fashion is, of course, nothing new and Yves Saint Lauren was an early adapter, using the work of Piet Mondrian, a Dutch modern art pioneer, as a starting point for a 1965 collection. The shift dresses, which borrow heavily Mondrian’s colour block work, remain one of the most recognisable styles that Saint Laurent ever created, and while they didn’t emerge from a collaboration (Mondrian died in 1944), it would be impossible to see a Mondrian now and not think of that Yves Saint Laurent collection and vice versa. 

It’s a pleasing outcome, for both the fashion house and the artist, a partnership that allows them to swap audiences and consumers, to intermingle fashion and art. And even when the relationship is discordant, like that of Jacobs and Kidult, the very least it will do is introduce people to viewpoints and perspectives, whether they choose to agree with them or not. So while Kidult seems to be losing his battle with a wily Jacobs, he can be sure that a lot more people know his name this week than last.