I recently designed and sewed a black and white dress that plays with the idea of optical illusion. Op Art - a 1960s art movement - is still prevalent and popular with fashion designers around the world.
In the early 1960s, Bridget Riley, a British painter, began her first Op Art paintings, working only in black and white and using simple geometric shapes – squares, lines and ovals. The 1965 exhibition "The Responsive Eye" in New York showcased her work kicking off her fame. It was around this time that the term ‘Op Art’ entered the public consciousness. The fashion, design and advertising industries fell in love with its graphic, sign-like patterns and decorative value. Op Art was cool, and Bridget Riley became Great Britain’s number one art celebrity.
In the early 1960s, Bridget Riley, a British painter, began her first Op Art paintings, working only in black and white and using simple geometric shapes – squares, lines and ovals. The 1965 exhibition "The Responsive Eye" in New York showcased her work kicking off her fame. It was around this time that the term ‘Op Art’ entered the public consciousness. The fashion, design and advertising industries fell in love with its graphic, sign-like patterns and decorative value. Op Art was cool, and Bridget Riley became Great Britain’s number one art celebrity.
Art piece by Bridget Riley
The basis of the Op Art movement was a form of geometric abstraction - impersonal and not obviously related to our world. Bridget Riley said, “I couldn’t get near what I wanted through seeing, recognizing and recreating, so I stood the problem on its head. I started studying squares, rectangles, triangles and the sensations they give rise to… It is untrue that my work depends on any literary impulse or has any illustrative intention. The marks on the canvas are sole and essential agents in a series of relationships which form the structure of the painting.”
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Below you can see Op Art designs on the runways last and this year. Still so popular! Still so intriguing! While the designers are working with contemporary silhouettes, they are also honoring the strong heritage of the 1960s fashions and Op Art patterns.
 Balmain |  Libertine |  Emilio Pucci |
I am certainly glad to understand the history behind the pattern in my own design. And I am also glad to see the strong tie between art and fashion.