Apparently what is fashionable these days is for established fashion houses to collaborate with artists, sculptors and a new breed of muse to generate new perspectives for their brand.

Collaboration between creative minds isn’t new, neither is drawing inspiration from kindred spirits: Yves Saint Laurent favoured Catherine Deneuve, Givenchy iconised Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys.

Modern day muses typically derive from photography, music or art and are lending inspiration to both established designers and emerging brands.

At one time, muses added glamour and intrigue, now what they bring is a savvy market of millions of potential customers. When Kanye West chose to collaborate on footwear for Dion Lee’s Fall 2012 show in London, the rapper’s enthusiastic praise of the designer was tweeted to West’s 8 million followers.

Guess by Marciano chose Swedish blogger Elin Kling for their first-ever collaboration. Renowned for her award winning fashion blog (stylebykling), on-trend commentaries and street-nous style, Kling has added a new wave of street-cred to the brand. CEO Paul Marciano knows that bloggers have a serious amount of influence and Kling’s panache for restyling looks and redefining what is wearable and stylish reflects the brand’s direction to push their boundaries and branch out.

The most colourful in recent months has been Marc Jacobs’ collaboration with artist, Yayoi Kusama, who infused dotty havoc for Louis Vuitton Collection.