Many believe that fashion is only what one wears, but fashion is also an art form with many different branches. From fashion photography to runway to visual displays to illustration, there are many different careers and medias that fashion belongs to and takes part in.
Fashion illustration is an ancient art form that has been around since clothing. Until the 1930s Vogue would pay different artists to illustrate the cover, and when one went shopping or flipped through a fashion magazine they saw illustrations advertising garments instead of photographs.
Nowadays fashion illustrations have been taken over by fashion photography, but that doesn’t mean illustration doesn’t exist. There are many artists today who call themselves fashion illustrators and create modern work published in magazines and on websites.
Fashion illustration has a whimsical and fairytale-like nature. The artists use many different mediums including paint, drawing and even digital programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Many artists use mixed media to create an imaginative and dreamlike piece, with just enough reality to tell a story. The dreamlike nature of fashion illustration is what sets it apart from photographs.
Cate Parr, Sandra Suy, and Elisa Mazzone are a few of my favorite fashion illustrators. Take a look at their illustrations below and find some inspiration. Not only are they artists, they are also fashion designers who create characters and muses to dress.
