Fashion Illustration| the Artistic Existence

Fashion illustration has been around for 500 or more years; it is used in the design process of a garment in the form of technical rendering and has made a presence in the realm of abstract works of art.  At one point in time it was a prominent medium used to illustrate the changing silhouettes and the immediate mood of fashion. You could not think of fashion without thinking of fashion illustration. The artistic presence of fashion illustration has been overshadowed by the common use of fashion photography.  The presence of fashion illustration began to wane in the 1930’s, when prominent fashion magazines began replacing illustrations with photographs. In the 1980’s there was an influx in fashion illustration. It gained a second wind. The techniques used in fashion illustration continue to evolve with the advancements in technology. Expanding from hand made inspirations to incorporating digitization and computer rendering.

Fashion illustration is broken into three divisions of artistic perspective.  The Sensualists, Technocrats, and the Sophisticates/Gamines. Sensualist works with traditional fine art mediums: paint, ink, color, stencils, woodblocks, and textures. Their work is revered as being strong and striking.  Technocrats use a combination of drawings and computer rendering. The final product is a digitized image.  Sophisticates/Gamines use a mix of drawing styles vacillating from caricature to cartooning to render a final image.  

Sensualist: Ruben Toledo & Kenneth Paul Block

Kenneth Paul Block

Kenneth Paul Block

Kenneth Paul Block

Kenneth Paul Block

Kenneth Paul Block

Technocrate: Jason Brooks & Francois Berthoud

Jason Brooks

Jason Brooks

Jason Brooks

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Francois Berthoud

Sophisticates/Gamine: Tanya Ling

The question that resonates in my mind is how can we encourage more of the artistic indulgence and display of this craft. Fashion illustration provides a poetic perspective to fashion. Fashion illustration is a means of transforming the creative whispers of the imagination to a conceptualized birth. The art opens itself to the finesse of purist techniques and has grown to embrace the infusion of the technocratic talents. Some of my favorite fashion illustrators are amongst Jennifer Lilya, Tiffany J Harris, Tanya Ling, Julie Verhoeven, Sarah Hankinson, and Francois Berthoud. Past inspirations include Rene Gruau and Kenneth Paul Block to name a few. In this budding generation of fashion lovers and self professed connoisseurs, I wonder will they perpetuate the artistic identity of fashion illustration or merely cultivate the craft for technical application? 

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