The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom and STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A couple of years ago, as I was exploring the graduate collections of a stellar Central St Martins MA class, I met Molly Grad, one of the strongest talents to emerge from the legendary fashion school that year. Apart from the deft tailoring and layering of Molly's collection itself, I was engrossed in her sketchbook, which was filled with anatomical photos interspersed with her illustrations.
I recently met up with Molly for lunch and she gave me a wonderful book called Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers, written by Laird Borrelli, who is also a friend. In the book, Laird gives us a sneak peak into the dreams and designs of the world's leading designers, alive (Boudicca, Giles and Phillip Lim) and dead (Yves St Laurent, Gianfranco Ferre).
I reached Laird via email in Sweden, where she is on holiday but still agreed to answer a few questions, from a Swedish keyboard, so we could benefit from her renowned expertise on the history (and business) of fashion illustration.
Fashion illustration is an exercise in individuality: sometimes-fantastical, sometimes bare-bones, sometimes out-of-this-world, fashion illustration captures both the spirit of the garment, but also the mood of the collection and the individual personality and style of the the illustrator themselves.
Antonio Lopez (courtesy of Fashion Illustration Gallery)
Mats Gustafson
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