Photoshopped editorial layouts still dominate the pages of most fashion magazines, and while use of that aforementioned graphics program has become
a relevant form of modern art, a more creative mode of fashion art is rearing its head online. Between
Garance Doré’s ascension to the ranks of the fashion elite and
American Apparel’s new ad campaign, will 2011 be the year that fashion illustration enters the mainstream?
I Want to Be Her!: For many longtime readers of
Lucky, co-founder and former creative director Andrea Linett
is the woman they want to be. Until recently, Linett was the editor of the rag’s back page feature, “Fashion Babble,” the centerpiece of which was an illustration of Linett herself, decked out in one of her celebrated theme ensembles. Though the column went out the door with its author, it now lives on in I Want to Be Her!,
a new blog that sees Linett
teamed up once again with “Fashion Babble” illustrator Anne Johnston Albert. Each week, a new roster of hand drawn street fashion icons is introduced, along with links to purchase the items that comprise their showcased outfits. You certainly can’t do that in print.
What I Saw Today: When it comes to personal style, the streets of NYC can be equal parts runway and comic strip. Illustrator Richard Haines hones in on a space that falls somewhere between the two, rendering his favorite men’s sidewalk looks in loose-handed, yet exquisitely detailed, sketches. With stints designing for Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Perry Ellis and Sean Combs under his belt, Haines’ eye goes beyond general trends to specific fabrics, colors and silhouettes. Indeed, his expert recognition and illustrations of the understated side of style has earned him the reverential moniker of
“The Drawtorialist.” So influential has his radar for notable menswear become that
he’s been able to fulfill his career dream, now illustrating professionally for the likes of J.Crew and Max Mara.
PaperFashion: 2010 saw fashion blogging move from a mere pastime to a widely recognized form of cultural journalism while ushering in a new wave of Anna Wintours. Among them is
Style Rookie’s Tavi Gevinson, a 14-year-old with a philosophical, yet still lighthearted, approach to fashion, and
Sea of Shoes’ Jane Aldridge, a Texas debutante with a seemingly bottomless vault of Barneys stock and designer vintage. While her pastel drawn depictions of the wunderkinds were hardly her first stab at fashion illustration, PaperFashion’s Kathryn Rodgers
rose to prominence when the portraits were shown off by the young bloggers. Her primary passion, however, is drawing
electric interpretations of runway looks. But, she also does custom work, even for those clad exclusively in House of Mall.
