The Art of not putting Art on things

There is a moment in every trend when something clever becomes something ubiquitous. We may have reached it with artist collaborations as merch: Put an artist on a sneaker. Print a painting on a tote bag. Turn a famous artwork into a limited-edition bottle, hoodie, suitcase, or coffee cup. Add a numbered edition, a launch party, an artist dinner, and a suitably monochrome Instagram feed. Voilà: Culture.

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© Hung Chi Chang "Three Soul Fragements" for Levi's Taipei

Except, it's not culture. It simply is merchandising! Don't get us wrong, as the problem is not that artists work with brands. They always have; from Dalí's lobster dress for Schiaparelli to Keith Haring's Pop Shop, commerciality has long been part of artistic practice. Some collaborations genuinely create new meaning, of course. Research even suggests that an artist can expand a brand's personality when the relationship introduces a productive degree of difference rather than simply mirroring the brand. However, the problem begins when art becomes a surface rather than a source.

We are currently witnessing an extraordinary inflation of artist-brand collaborations. Fashion collaborations in particular have become so omnipresent that audiences are beginning to suffer from collaboration fatigue. Vogue described 2025 as a turning point, noting that the sheer proliferation of partnerships has made it increasingly difficult for collaborations to feel meaningful. And "feeling" meaningful is still not enough. When an artist can be swapped into a campaign without fundamentally changing the idea, one might reasonably ask: Why was the artist there in the first place? Artwashing alarm?

The eye-opener to understanding the difference between using art and working with art. The first puts the artist on the packaging, the mug, or anywhere else unsuitable. The latter might put the artist respectfully in the boardroom because of the artist's unique and independent point of view! Start enjoying the challenge artists pose to your brief. They not only observe differently but also question conventions and/or make connections across seemingly unrelated territories. Let them influence you long-term in the environment you operate in. This is their real value! And yours too, by the way.

So before putting another masterpiece on a T, dare to ask a more difficult question: What could this artist change about us? If the answer is nothing, save the artwork, spare the artist. And rethink your strategy.

Art has never meant to make a brand look cultured. Art is there to make the brand think differently. If your artistic ideas need a home to start from scratch, grow into something bigger, or simply cause a little trouble, Maison d'Art has the keys.

Yours truly,

Margot

MDA: "Denim Portraits" stems from a collaboration between the New York-based artist Hung Chi Chang (b. 1993 in Taipei) and Levi's Taiwan: Three soul fragments, in which he used vintage fabrics and textile structures to create wearable portrait masks. Hung Chi's multidisciplinary practice centers around painting and installation, explor

ing themes of memory, emotion, and transformation. His acrylic and charcoal artworks on paper or canvas are often extended into short animations, using a fluid narrative form to express what remains unsaid.