Now, 33 years after Jean-Michel Basquiat’s passing away, the new-expressionist prodigy’s influence in the realm of fashion and pop culture is only getting more prominent.
A few days ago, Big Bang’s T.O.P was seen seating with Yusaku Maesawa, the high-profile Japanese entrepreneur, in front of a large-scale Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) that Maesawa sold at Phillips last night (May 18th, 2022) for $85,000,000. Maesawa is also the owner of the most expensive Basquiat painting that he acquired from Sotheby’s in 2017 for a record-breaking 110.5 million dollars. Alongside Maesawa, Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, is also an astute collector of Basquiat. In 2021, after acquiring Tiffany & Company, LVMH controversially used a rare Basquiat painting “Equals Pi” to promote the jeweller’s new campaign. Jay-Z was also featured in that Tiffany campaign, he is also a Basquiat collector and used to dress like Basquiat at a Halloween party. Among the millennials, K-pop group Pentagon had a song titled “Basquiat” with lyrics goes like: “We will be a new Basquiat”. And fashion influencer Luka Sabbat also got his style inspired by Jean-Michel to be featured in GQ Spain.
He dressed in the most expensive clothes with paint all over them. Constantly. Most of the time he wore Comme des Garçons, with loads and loads of paint, and also loads of joint burns……
What Artists Wear Can Be A Tool
For Jean-Michel Basquiat, people’s interest in him is not limited to his artworks, but also to his personal style. “What artists wear can be a tool in their practice. Their clothing can tell of their desire for another mode of living or, sometimes, their conscious subscription to the status quo”, said Charlie Porter, author of What Artists Wear. Basquiat’s intuitional approach to his artwork echoes the way he dresses. While expressing himself on the canvas, Basquiat’s wardrobe also plays a role in shouting out messages.
