Can fashion be art?

Art has never been so fashionable," declared the author of a new biography of Coco Chanel, Justine Picardie, on a recent edition of Start the Week. "And fashion has never seen itself with quite such seriousness." If you want to see the truth of that statement, look no further than the Royal Academy's latest exhibition, Aware: Art Fashion Identity. Pretentious isn't in it. The show starts with a mission statement: "Clothing is an important marker of individuality and social identity. While fulfilling a practical, and at times protective function, it is also acknowledged as a means of communication, through which elements of personal and collective identities are revealed. Clothing can be effective in celebrating identity and indicating allegiance; for these reasons, it is often subject to suppression and regulation... The artists' particular interpretation uses clothing to explore identity and to speak more broadly of our experience of the world."

Things get worse as you get to the exhibits. An "Artist's Robe" by Grayson Perry, which opens the show as you ascend the stairs of Burlington House, behind the main galleries, is said to refer "to the uniforms associated with society, clubs or academies, while commenting on the position and perception of the artist in contemporary society". An installation by Dai Rees, of leather sewn in animal shapes and called "Carapace: Triptych, The Butcher's Window, 2003", is accompanied by a caption explaining that the detailed "marquetry, which shows scenes of decay in reference to death and trauma, and carries echoes of the branding iron, reinforces the effort and expertise traditionally required to make a piece of clothing, in contrast to much of today's fashion". A double-headed knitted pullover by Rosemarie Trockel "examines the human tendency to form life partnerships, in which we link ourselves to another person. The double figure also suggests the multiple personalities needed to adapt the complexities of modern life".

It is tempting to dismiss all this as truly a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. But it would be a pity. Stripped of all this intellectualisation, the show contains much that is fresh and enjoyable and occasionally revealing.