Mulberry announced this morning that it is set to sponsor London's Institute of Contemporary Art during 2014, starting with the current exhibition of the work of artist Richard Hamilton, the man credited with sparking the Pop Art movement. It isn't the first toe the brand has dipped in the increasingly fashionable waters of the art world – in 2012, Mulberry sponsored the first Frieze fair in New York.

It's an interesting partnership, given both the ICA and Mulberry share a 'British heritage' feel as institutions in their own right (and the ICA is just metres from Buckingham Palace, after all) but they both equally work hard to radicalise and modernise the more traditional aspects of their brands.

And it's further proof of what we already knew: what with COS sponsoring the Serpentine pavilion and McQueen's name on the Frieze London billing (not to mention the sheer quantity of Celine handbags seen at both events), art is the fashion industry's new party pal. You can see as much in the not-even-subtle nods to art in the spring collections – Chanel's showspace was turned into a mock gallery for the event, the clothes daubed in paint; Phoebe Philo was inspired by Otto Dix and Sonia Delaunay. And for autumn too, the references continue - Magnus Plessen at Marni, John Baldessari at Saint Laurent. So good on Mulberry for getting on the act.

Buy tickets to the ICA's Richard Hamilton exhibition here