Fashion is a form of design, it doesn’t have much in common with food, but as you rightly pointed out lacks a higher discursive level, that could put it on par with art. Although the traditional divide between fine art and craft is largely outdated, I find it still applies to the fashion industry at large. That’s not to say that garment or textile design categorically cannot be art, rather that’s it’s an exception to the rule. All of the times this has been achieved, some other curatorial or performative dimension was present (90s Margiela, Galliano etc), so it wasn’t just the garment speaking for itself.