admin The contemporary fashion illustration community is a vast group of mostly independent artists working, some with great success, within the fashion industry contributing their creativity to brand events and activations, ad campaigns and editorial. It’s a good time to be a fashion illustrator. NYC-based Elly Azizian, who works under the name Fashion Strokes, is regularly invited to Paris Haute Couture week to sketch the runways while organizations such as Fida (Fashion Illustration and Design Association) have brokered partnerships between their member artists and design houses, and their artists sit ringside at London Fashion Week through their partnership with Fashion Scout. After existing in the shadow of other disciplines for decades, fashion illustration is coming into its own as a respected and lucrative field for creatives.
So much so that illustrators who have been trained in the fashion industry are now finding their services called upon in non-fashion environments. The just released music video by Daphne Guinness, the aristocrat muse of the late Alexander McQueen, for her single Hip Neck Spine directed by Nick Knight, is a moody homage to silver screen sirens that showcases her extensive couture archive. Equally noteworthy is that it features a dozen fashion artists at work behind easels, and throughout the video, images of their artwork float across the screen. An exhibition of these works entitled Drawing Daphne is on view until September 7 at SHOWStudio’s art space in London. Artist Connie Lim, one of the creatives onset, tells FashionUnited, “It was a great experience because we always work alone in our studios but when I was on set it was so nice to see the production team, all the behind the scenes considerations, like lighting and props, stage set-up. There was a lot of waiting around but it was fascinating to be involved in such a big project.”
The 3-day shoot emerged from a concept by Nick Knight, who is a proponent of contemporary fashion art, often showcasing artists’ work on the SHOWStudio website and socials, but the experience differed from sketching in the chaotic environments of fashion shows and other live events. The artists were treated with care and respect and, says Lim, “The vibe was a little more curated. Daphne had about 100 looks so there were a lot of changes, and filming the same scene with different looks, but this was a chance to see the wonderful clothes.”
The easel encouraged larger scale work than illustrators usually produce for the fashion industry. Lim worked with color pencils, ink, and experimented with soft pastels, and says, “It was a nice playground to dabble with materials.”
Detroit-based Nicole Jarecz who spent her early career in Paris now works extensively for local and global brands as well as live sketching at weddings and private functions. She recently flew to NYC to sketch for the toy empire FAO Schwarz. “At the time I was working with a PR firm that represented both Faber-Castell and Steiff teddy bears and had developed a long standing relationship with Faber-Castell making how-to videos for their social media,” says Jarecz of how the opportunity came about. “The head of the PR firm was really my number one fan for many years and they pitched the idea of having me sketch at FAO Schwarz’s 150th anniversary for Steiff teddy bears.”
Drawing babies, children and teddy bears differed from her in store sketching jobs for brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s or Gucci, but says Jarecz, “I loved changing it up and realized that at the end of the day I can make anything I want “fashion”. Having a job like this really opened other doors for me. Now I’m asked all the time to sketch at events with children or to create custom illustrations for families, something I truly enjoy.”
Meagan Morrison founded blog TravelWriteDraw in 2010 after graduating with an AS in fashion illustration from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, manifesting her career hopes in the three word title of her brand. She went full-time in 2014 when she quite her corporate fashion job.
“I made the very deliberate choice in 2010 to put travel in the name of my blog, because I knew it was going to be a harder leap to get into the travel hospitality space versus getting those fashion clients,” says Morrison. “I was really always interested in the intersection of where fashion met travel and lifestyle, where the the jet set hang and the wanderlust hits.”
Travel clients, rather than fashion brands, have led to two of Morrison’s high-profile jobs this summer. Having worked with Mastercard previously when she sketched guests at a wellness festival and through an events planning team who enlisted her for the opening of a Dubai hotel, Morrison was a natural fit for the multi-sensory experience Mastercard had planned for Cannes. Guests completed a survey which resulted in a custom song selection to play while Morrison created their portrait. An antidote to all the current AI chatter, Morrison’s art contributed to an immersive Riviera experience touching all of the senses, capturing forever the colors of the glamorous summer leisure spot in her signature expressive inks and washes. Through a mixture of Morrison’s past connections and serendipity, new opportunities evolve. An events planner now at Chase Travel but previously attached to Ritz Carlton, a brand Morrison has worked extensively with over the years, brought Morrison behind the scenes at Wimbledon to customize Adidas Stan Smith sneakers. But says Morrison, “It’s very demanding, having distance between me and the business. It’s really hard to separate. “That’s probably one of the greatest hurdles or challenges. But the the benefits far outweigh any of the of the challenges.”
Morrison gets 99.9 percent of her clients through Instagram where she appears to be an effortless content creator with an open demeanor that symbiotically works for her, her 174K followers and the brands she represents. “Instagram is a platform that lends itself so beautifully to showcasing what artists are capable of. I know that like TikTok is really hot, but I find it much more challenging to show my style of work on that platform,” she says. “Because it is it is a platform that really lends itself to either big grandiose gestures on big canvases, but if you work in tinier spaces it’s it’s a bit more challenging.”
Morrison’s most thrilling experience to date was sketching at the Formula One Grand Prix and talking spirituality with Lewis Hamilton. Not previously a Formula One fan previously, she says she became one through the experience. “I think that just shows how you can cross so many different lanes, I guess, as an artist and how you connect with people,” she says. “Illustrating the final race had that fashion lifestyle flair to it even though it was different subject matter.” Her most fun offbeat experience so far has been illustrating on basketballs for Marriott Bonvoy: “The application of my art to a spherical surface really had me outside my comfort zone,” says Morrison. “Funny, because you go from this flat plane to suddenly you have to think about it from all sides, but it was an awesome project.”
Whether in fashion or non-fashion spaces, guests tend to be equally touched whether they receive a custom live portrait or a monogrammed leather pouch, according to illustrators. And in this era of the personal brand, these take home keepsakes when shared on social media help individuals cultivate their own online identity as well as build the profile of the brand, so it’s a win all round. It’s a loop of self-expression.
Morrison’s first foray outside fashion was a dream job for Conde Nast Traveller who asked her to illustrate her way through Bermuda, capturing everything from fish and local food to artisanal jewelry and architecture. As we speak Morrison is preparing for a trip to Peru, but for fall is looking forward to spending some time on the ground in the fall to create a body of art based on all the inspiration she has stockpiled.
“I live with a very optimistic outlook and I am just so grateful to do what I do. I love it so much,” says Morrison of the secret to her success. “I consider myself lucky to be so passionate about what I do for a living.”
