Fashion Illustration is the art of communicating

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration,

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and also known as Fashion sketching. It is mainly used by

fashion designers Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...

to brainstorm their ideas on paper or digitally. Fashion sketching plays a major role in designing to preview and visualize designs before sewing actual clothing.

History

Fashion illustration has been around for nearly 500 years. Ever since clothes have existed, there has been a need to translate an idea or image into a visual representation. Not only do fashion illustrations show a representation or design of a garment but they also serve as a form of art. The majority of fashion illustrations were created to be seen at a close range, often requiring the illustrator to have an eye for detail. Fashion illustration is said to be a visual luxury. More recently, there has been a decline of fashion illustration from the late 1930s when ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' began to replace its celebrated illustrated covers with photographic images. This was a major turning point in the fashion industry. Laird Borrelli, author of Fashion Illustration Now states,

Fashion Illustration has gone from being one of the sole means of fashion communication to having a very minor role. The first photographic cover of Vogue was a watershed in the history of fashion illustration and a watershed mark of its decline. Photographs, no matter how altered or retouched, will always have some association with reality and by association truth. I like to think of them ashion Illustrationsas prose poems and having more fictional narratives. They are more obviously filtered through an individual vision than photos. Illustration lives on, but in the position of a poor relative to the fashion.,

Fashion illustration differs from the

fashion plate A fashion plate is an illustration (a plate) demonstrating the highlights of fashionable styles of clothing. Traditionally they are rendered through etching, line engraving, or lithograph and then colored by hand. To quote historian James Laver ...

in that a fashion plate is a reproduction of an image, such as a drawing or photograph, for a magazine or book. Fashion illustrations can be made into

, but a fashion plate is not itself an original work of illustration. In the modern day fashion illustrations are seen more as interpretations of garments rather than exact replicas. Illustrators have more freedom when working for themselves rather than for magazines, that valued realism over the illustrator's creative liberties.

Process of Fashion Illustration

Designers use mediums such as

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

, marker,

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

, and

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

to convey the details of garments and the feeling invoked by the artist. With the rise of

digital art Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various name ...

, some artists have begun to create illustrations using

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

. Artists frequently begin with a sketch of a figure called a

croquis Croquis drawing is quick and sketchy drawing of a live model. Croquis drawings are usually made in a few minutes, after which the model changes pose or leaves and another croquis is drawn. The word ''croquis'' comes from French and means simply ...

, and build a look on top of it. The artist takes care to render the fabrics and silhouettes used in the garment. They typically illustrate clothing on a figure with exaggerated 9-head or 10-head proportions. The artist will typically find samples of fabric, or swatches, to imitate in their drawing.

Notable fashion illustrators

Notable active illustrators

* Meagan Morrison * David Downton (1959–) * Julie Verhoeven (1969-) * Hayden Williams (1991-)

Notable Illustrators of the past

Paul Iribe Paul Iribe (8 June 1883 – 21 September 1935) was a French illustrator and designer in the decorative arts. He worked in Hollywood during the 1920s and was Coco Chanel's lover from 1931 to his death. Early life and career Joseph Paul Iribe was b ...

(1883–1935) * Carl 'Eric' Erickson (1891–1958) * 'Erté' Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990) * Christian Bérard (1902–1949) * Max Hoff (1903 – 1985) *

Dagmar Freuchen Dagmar Freuchen-Gale (June 30, 1907 – March 9, 1991) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor. Early life and education Freuchen-Gale was born Dagmar Cohn in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, to Hans Cohn and Betty Johanne Neustadt. Her parents w ...

(1907-1991) * Ruth Sigrid Grafstrom (1905-1986) * Rene Gruau (1909–2004) * Irwin Crosthwait (1914–1981) *

Lila De Nobili Lila De Nobili (September 3, 1916 – February 19, 2002) was an Italian stage designer, costume designer, and fashion illustrator. She was noted for her collaborations with leading stage and opera directors such as Luchino Visconti and Franco ...

(1916–2002) * Bernard Blossac (1917–2002) * Kenneth Paul Block (1924–2009) *

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

(1928–1987) * Antonio Lopez (1943–1987) * Joel Resnicoff (1948–1986)

Digital Fashion Illustrators

*Inga Sandweg (1985-)

References

External links

Frances Needy Collection - information about research access http://www.fitnyc.edu/library/sparc/collections/frances-neady.php
* Frances Needy Collection - SPARC Digital - https://sparcdigital.fitnyc.edu/items/browse?collection=26 * Victoria & Albert Museum - Fashion Drawing and Illustration - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-drawing-in-the-20th-century/
{{Fashion Drawing Illustration * Fashion design Fashion