Art-Brand Lifestyles

NEW YORK—On a boutique-lined stretch of Elizabeth Street in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, one shop sets itself apart by offering more than tastefully hip clothing. While most storefronts in the area showcase downtown trends by small designers, this spring Groupe 16sur20 greets visitors with the hard angles of a glossy, black, 1983 Aston Martin Lagonda. Not only is the car for sale but its sharp-edged geometry, flashy exterior, and protruding hood lends an air of 1980s decadence to the men’s shirts, jackets, and other clothing on display farther inside.

Linking a flashy car to hip clothing is nothing new. What is notable at Groupe 16sur20 is something you’ll discover as you venture deeper in the store: several eye-catching works by painter Peter Saul hang on the walls. Like the car, the paintings—examples of Saul’s signature comic-book style that presages a current generation of Pop-Surrealist artists—also come to bear on the garments for sale. If you buy these clothes, the suggestion goes, you can wear them to a gallery opening or, even better, an art-fair afterparty, the sort with a parking lot full of shiny Aston Martins.

Groupe 16sur20 is of course fully aware of these associations. It has deftly positioned its clothing among signifiers of a young, moneyed, and culturally attuned lifestyle to allure a clientele that can appreciate both a fashionably dated car design and the social cachet of the art world.

And the store is hardly alone in using art to sell a style. Recently a whole crop of businesses that bank on evoking a wide range of lifestyles—from major department stores to boutique hotels—has taken to showing art in ways that bolster their brands’ respective identities. Some have gone as far as developing long-term curatorial programs, while others, like Groupe 16sur20, function as traditional galleries, dealing art alongside their core products.

The Fine Art of Luxury

The trend has been around for some time in the world of luxury retail. Louis Vuitton regularly turns over its New York storefront on 5th Avenue to site-specific works, including a celebrated installation by Danish-born artist Olafur Eliasson last winter. And last year, Prada held its own exhibition directly tied to a new product line; “Waist Down—Skirts by Muccia Prada” was designed by members of Rem Koolhaas’s Office for Metropolitan Architecture and toured through Prada stores worldwide.

Hermes also exhibits art in its retail locations, some of which boast in-store galleries. According to Robert B. Chavez, president and CEO of Hermes USA, showing art in its stores reinforces the august brand’s association with craftsmanship. “The house of Hermes was founded by Thierry Hermes in 1837. Six generations later, each product [is] still created by hand,” he said. “I believe this undertaking is only possible with a commitment to art—in all forms—and the creative mind.”

Hermes’ Manhattan and L.A. stores include designated gallery spaces that show about two exhibitions a year. Previous exhibitions have featured work by Doug Aitken, Lou Reed, and other well-known artists. On June 8, a series of photographs by French artist Gerard Uferas goes on view in the New York gallery, but unlike the silk scarves and leather handbags on the floors below, the work will not be for sale.

The Studio Experience

Hotels have also used art to build their identities in ways that go far beyond a well-decorated lobby. A pioneer of “boutique” hotel projects that incorporate contemporary art, celebrity hotelier Ian Schrager outfitted the Morgan Hotel in Manhattan with 150 Robert Mapplethorpe photographs back in 1985. More recently, he enlisted Julian Schnabel to design furnishings and interiors for the new Gramercy Park Hotel, his most art-heavy project to date. Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol, and other big names on loan from an equally impressive list of collectors—Peter Brant and Aby Rosen—hang in the hotel’s public spaces.

“It personalizes and individualizes the space, and that’s what I think is going on right now,” said Schrager. “We’re all tired of being able to go in and categorize something. For me it’s about being very individualized and very personal and quirky and eclectic and really distinguishing yourself. That’s the message of the hotel—if there is a message—and the art is a vehicle for accomplishing that.”