Once upon a time, in a museum gift shop or maybe it was some trendy bookstore, I picked up What Artists Wear by the journalist Charlie Porter. Its pages were divided by artist, chronicling the uniforms of all manner of artists, ranging from David Hockney to Martine Syms. It’s been years since I read the book, but it was the spark that kicked off an enduring fascination with the clothes worn by creative people. 

I’ve found inspiration in everything from Basquiat’s paint-covered Armani suits to the structured workwear of long-dead Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Lately though, my eye’s been drawn to Henry Taylor, the Los Angeles-based artist whose acrylic paintings of African American life have captivated everyone from Rei Kawakubo and Pharrell Williams to Barack and Michelle Obama. 

Personally, I blame COMME des GARÇONS. Kawakubo’s avant-garde Japanese label recently teamed with Taylor to translate his paintings into a limited collection of wallets, coinciding with a major survey exhibition of his work at Paris’s Picasso Museum. His works feel made for this new medium, with the acrylic paintings transferring seamlessly to the leather grain. 

But more than just a textural slam dunk, this linkup almost feels overdue. See, Taylor isn’t just a prolific painter; he’s also a prolific acolyte of the cult of COMME. Taylor has worn pieces from the brand often enough that garments from CDG’s various sub-labels have been described as his “regular uniform.” He's developed a particular soft spot for CDG PLAY, appearing in its heart-logo-adorned knits again and again, including, importantly, in a 2025 Vogue feature tied to his painting of Louis Vuitton menswear designer Pharrell Williams (that's still his IG profile pic) for that year’s Met Gala — he’d go on to help design a look for BLACKPINK’s LISA for the event, and also attended in head-to-toe bespoke LV. 

Like his Kawakubo connect at CDG, Taylor’s ties to Louis Vuitton run deep. He first worked with the French fashion house in 2020, transferring a portrait of the late artist Noah Davis onto the brand’s classic Capucines bag (a spiritual precursor to the CDG Wallet project), and saw his art recreated through micro-embroidery for Williams’ debut LV collection in 2023. 

Taylor has always had an eye for style: he spent his childhood observing the outfits of both churchgoers he saw through his window and his own friends; he even briefly considered a career as a clothing designer before finding his way to art. 

It’s clear that his works pair well with the fashion world, but Taylor’s own uniform — vintage CDG, a signature felt bucket hat — speaks just as loudly as his paintings. He’s built a career putting the Black American experience on canvas, capturing his subjects’ energy and atmosphere. But as institutions like CDG and LV put their own spotlight on Taylor, it’s worth turning the same attention to what he’s wearing. 

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