Drawing Inspiration

Despite the popularity of digital design and photographic imaging, fashion illustration is back en vogue. No longer limited to glossy anthologies and nostalgic archives, the classic art form combines a modern touch with an archaic appeal.

Fashion illustration hasn't seen such mass-market appeal since the days of the illustrator greats. Erté's contributions to Harper's Bazaar in the early twentieth century left an indelible mark on the medium, as did René Gruau's depictions of '50s Parisian high fashion. But as Vogue's illustrated covers were replaced by the newfangled photographic images of the '30s, illustrators suddenly took a backseat.

With a relationship intrinsically tied to fashion fundamentals, it is no wonder designers are now clamoring to revisit the powerful partnership. Edgier artists such as Fafi and Takashi Murakami have paved the way with their modern drawings for M.A.C. and Louis Vuitton, while Prada's spring/summer '08 collaboration with James Jean was entirely inspired by the artist's surreal sketches. Top design houses such as Agent Provocateur, Louis Vuitton, Anna Sui, Clinique, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry and Balenciaga have now teamed up respectively with illustrators Richard Gray, Julie Verhoeven, Hiroshi Tanabe and François Berthoud. This marriage of mediums promotes the artists while reinvigorating the monotony of photographic images.

No stranger to the world of fashion illustration, Paris-based illustrator and blogger Garance Doré has her own cult following of fashion insiders. Doré credits the artistic inspiration generated between a designer and illustrator as the catalyst for the renewed interest in fashion illustration. "An illustrator's perspective can add a whole new world of references for a brand that is very individual," she remarks. "For example, take François Berthoud or Kareem Iliya who illustrate fashion, but through a very personal filter. I love to think that the illustrator's interpretation of the designer's fashion brings new inspiration to the designer so that they feed off each other."

While the jury is still out on a Vogue revamp, fashion glossies such as Wallpaper, Dazed and Confused and Pop are already taking the lead with illustrated covers and fashion spreads. This new incarnation of illustration challenges the way we have come to view fashion, while promoting the artistic aesthetic of a bygone era.

—Kyle Landman