New York Fashion Week Draws on Modernist Art, Designers Say

New York Fashion Week has taken what The Guardian described as a highbrow turn this season, with designers drawing explicit inspiration from 20th-century modernist artists rather than street style or logo-driven trends.

According to the report, Calvin Klein has shifted its aesthetic in the two years since designer Veronica Leoni took charge of the brand. Leoni, an Italian designer and philosophy graduate who trained at Jil Sander and Celine, has moved the label away from jeans, boxer shorts and prominent branding toward what she called the "discipline of removal," the report said, featuring slip dresses, simple coats, slim skirts and crisp T-shirts.

Leoni's muse for the season was painter Georgia O'Keeffe, an artist admired by Calvin Klein's namesake founder, according to the report. The Guardian noted that Klein purchased O'Keeffe's painting Summer Days in 1983 for $1 million before donating it to the Whitney Museum. A checked pattern drawn from O'Keeffe's utilitarian personal wardrobe appeared on the runway as a wrap coat without hardware, featuring a fabric belt and no buttons, the report said.

The Guardian also reported that designer Michael Kors said he felt indebted to sculptor Alexander Calder in his latest collection, part of a broader trend at the fashion week toward referencing modernist art movements and figures.