Fashion According to Frida Kahlo: Between Tradition and Concealment

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Known worldwide, Frida Kahlo has captivated us with both her art and her aura. While we are familiar with her works, filled with sadness and suffering, against a backdrop of bold colors and naive style, the Palais Galliera currently offers us a more intimate and personal dive into the artist’s life with its exhibition Frida Kahlo: Beyond Appearances. It is a meeting not only with the painter but with the woman, her destiny, and her life full of obstacles. We particularly discover Frida Kahlo’s vision of fashion and how her outfits came to create her identity, balancing tradition and concealment.

Who is Frida Kahlo?

Born in 1907 into a family of four children in Coyoacan, Mexico, to an indigenous and Spanish mother and a German emigrant father, Frida Kahlo spent her entire life in the Casa Azul where she was born. She encountered art through her father’s work as a photographer, particularly by learning to pose, and served as a model for many artists throughout her life. However, she was initially destined for a career in medicine, but her path changed after a tragic bus accident. Hospitalized for many months, art took a dominant place in her life from that moment on and never left her.

Her paintings allowed her to express her emotions and suffering in a striking manner. Diseases, the aftermath of the accident, amputation of a leg, a marriage marked by infidelities, repeated miscarriages, and the inability to have a child… The physical and emotional wounds of Frida Kahlo nourished her works and are the source of the emotional charge they convey.

Often associated with surrealists, the Mexican artist with a naive style distanced herself from them by emphasizing the reality depicted in her works, unlike the imagination that fuels surrealist paintings. While she long felt overshadowed by her husband Diego Rivera, a famous muralist, travels and encounters with other artists gradually unveiled her to the world, which was quickly captivated by both her work and her persona.

Recognized today as one of the greatest artists of her century, her life, works, and style have made her an icon. The exhibition dedicated to her opens the doors to her almost sacred universe, where we discover more than 200 photos, films, letters, sketches, paintings, outfits, jewelry, accessories, a pharmacy cabinet, orthopedic corsets… All preserved from view for a long time within the Casa Azul. These objects and moments of life allow us to rediscover this woman, a fighter, resilient, whom life did not spare but who knew how to draw creativity from it to express herself.

Why is fashion according to Frida Kahlo primarily a matter of culture?

Very quickly, the artist understood that clothing and accessories were just as much a means of expression as the canvases she covered with colors. After spending a childhood dressing in rather European pieces, Frida Kahlo decided to shape her image and emphasize her Mexican identity from her 20s.

In the context of the Mexican Revolution, artists of the time sought to highlight the country’s ethnic richness and diversity. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec was one of their great inspirations. Gradually, the traditional outfits of this region became part of Frida Kahlo’s vision of fashion and built her identity known as “La Tehuana”, thus emphasizing her cultural belonging and echoing her indigenous roots, passed down by her mother.

Carefully crafting her outfits, Frida Kahlo’s fashion was made up of pieces from different periods and origins, creating a style described as hybrid. The outfits of Tehuana women she wore symbolized their matriarchal culture, their strength and pride. They consisted of colorful, embroidered pieces: skirt (enagua), ruffle (holan), tunic (huipil), and shawl (rebozo). Frida Kahlo composed a wardrobe from traditional pieces given to her or pieces designed for her, with some liberties taken in patterns, fabric choices, and seam placements. She loved sewing herself, and she personalized her pieces with small bells.

Clothing as a militant act

Frida Kahlo’s vision of fashion was also a means of militant expression. The artist, who had strong political opinions and was part of a group called Los Cachuchas, joined the Communist Party in 1928. Her party affiliation gave rise to various works and references in her outfits. Notably, on one of her corsets, where she painted the hammer and sickle symbol.

This use of clothing as a vehicle for discourse echoes the photos taken of her by her father when she was younger, both in girls’ and boys’ clothes, questioning gender fluidity. Through her work, the artist constantly broke taboos, codes, and preconceived ideas.

How does Frida Kahlo’s fashion incorporate her disabilities?

What makes Frida Kahlo’s fashion fascinating to discover is the medical devices she had to wear throughout her life. Orthopedic corsets, high-heeled shoes, leg prostheses… Always trying to draw a part of joy and creativity from her misfortune, Frida Kahlo decided to consider these devices as pieces she would have liked to wear and made them a second skin. Observing them as a canvas, she applied her creativity to them, and her pieces transformed into an extension of her work. Today, displayed in showcases, these pieces hold as much artistic value as her paintings.

Frida Kahlo was in control of her image and played with it, showing or hiding what she wanted. Long skirts allowed her to conceal her leg’s atrophy, and huipils hid her corsets, which supported her spine. These, made of steel, leather, and plaster, were spaces for her to paint her reality and her wounds.

Her tailored shoes and leg prostheses were also wrapped in art, with flamboyant colors and Chinese embroidery or added bells, to turn them into beautiful pieces. These colorful joyful parentheses, surrounding her disabilities and their consequences, shaped Frida Kahlo’s personality. A strong, resilient, and unique woman.

What role do jewelry items play in Frida Kahlo’s fashion?

The artist, who took great care in adorning herself until her last breath, placed significant importance on accessories.

First, we count the jewelry, which mainly consisted of pre-Columbian pieces or from the Maya culture, with stones like jade or obsidian. Some pieces were even assembled by Frida Kahlo herself, emphasizing her cultural belonging. Other jewelry items were made of gold chains, some featuring coins, signifying a family’s wealth at the time. The painter also had numerous earrings with Mexican symbols and rings that adorned her hands, often exchanged as a sign of friendship.

Another strong element of the artist’s identity was her hairstyle. Extending from the Tehuana women’s outfits, she began to replicate their hairstyle, composed of two braids intertwined on top of the head, with a colorful ribbon inserted. In addition to this, Frida Kahlo added fresh flowers from her garden, including fuchsias and bergenias, to bring even more color to her appearance.

Meticulously prepared, her makeup featured the reds and dark pinks unique to her. This applied to both lipstick and nail polish. The artist even had products sent from the USA by friends, highlighting her pleasure in taking care of herself with products she cherished, such as the Revlon brand.

How to create a look inspired by Frida Kahlo’s fashion?

Photographed many times, especially by Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo’s approach to fashion has also inspired numerous designers, such as Jean-Paul Gauthier, Valentino, Chanel, Givenchy, Dior, Alexander McQueen, and Comme des Garçons.

Whether you want to have the artist’s face on a piece or create a look inspired by hers, here is our small selection on Modalova.

Pieces inspired by Frida Kahlo