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Clothes have always been read closely in art, as signs of rank, wealth, modesty or daring. Antoine Watteau painted loose silk gowns so often that the pleats falling from their shoulders are still called Watteau pleats, and James Tissot built a career in the 1870s and 1880s on the latest Parisian dresses.

In the 20th century art and fashion began trading places. Edward Steichen's photographs of Paul Poiret's gowns, published in 1911, are often counted among the first modern fashion photographs. Sonia Delaunay carried her abstract colour into textiles and clothing in the 1920s, and Elsa Schiaparelli worked with Salvador Dalí on a white silk evening dress printed with a lobster (1937). Yves Saint Laurent's day dresses of 1965 borrowed Piet Mondrian's grids, and Alexander McQueen closed his spring 1999 show with robotic arms spraying paint over a white dress as the model turned.