United Colors of Benetton’s latest line will feature works by Indian artists

It can be said that United Colors of Benetton is made on the tenets of diversity and personal expression—really, it’s in the brand’s name! The five-decade-old company has made uniting art, people and causes a mission statement.

An ad campaign in 1991 put the spotlight on same-sex love, adoption and racial diversity long before these topics were openly discussed, let alone advertised and endorsed on large hoardings around the city. In a similar vein, the AIDS awareness campaign featured condoms in colours of the rainbow—again, a clever take on colour and unity wrapped in one.

Now, in 2019, Benetton brings its longstanding relationship with art to the fore to push boundaries. Early on in his career, Luciano Benetton himself initiated the Imago Mundi (image of the world) project, and travelled far and wide, even to India, for it. “Imago Mundi is a cultural, democratic and global project that looks to the new frontiers of art in the name of coexistence of expressive diversity,” he said of the initiative. And so, for spring/summer 2019, Benetton found its way into India as #UnitedByArt.

Since fashion and art have known to feed off each other, Benetton rounded up nine artists from across India—some from as far and wide as Kolkata, Benares and Hyderabad. The artists descended to Goa in December 2018 for a unique art camp—10 days of uninterrupted art where artists ideated, felt inspired and painted to their hearts’ desire. On the last day, press from around the country were brought in to understand the method, the project and the process. Ahead of the collection’s launch this month, we saw the art—including works by three Indian artists—that would then translate onto T-shirts in a collection available to buy in stores.

For the launch of the T-shirts at Lotus Make-up India Fashion Week, Benetton partnered with stylist and fashion influencer Rhea Kapoor. Her words rang true of the #UnitedByArt project. “Benetton is a brand, which has always been close to my heart. It is a brand that a generation has grown up wearing and connects with, not only within the realm of fashion, but for its path-breaking socially relevant campaigns over the years. #UnitedByArt is a commendable effort to celebrate fashion and art and would love to see more and more artists being recognised under the realm of this initiative.”

Scroll through to see how #UnitedByArt turned artworks into fashion.

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