Essay On Fashion Illustration

This essay will attempt to examine the pertinence of fashion illustration and the status of the fashion illustrator in a contemporary fashion world that’s preoccupied with social media and technology. In order to accurately measure the worth of present-day fashion illustration it must be considered in the light of fashion photography - the fashion drawings prevailing opposition since the advent of the camera in the early nineteenth century.

With this in mind we will briefly trace the history pre-photographic fashion drawings before looking at the effect photography had on the presentation of fashions to the masses, and then subsequently evaluating the contrasting qualities of both methods of communicating fashions.

This process will, hopefully,

His fashion illustrations have been published in Vanity Fair, Vogue Usa, Vogue Italy, Elle UK, and his commercial clients include Chanel, British Fashion council, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Galeries Lafayette, Veuve Cliquot, Zara.

His obvious success amongst big brands and the extensive magazine appearances of his varying and inventive illustrations proves that there remains an interest in fashion illustration in the fashion world of now.

Relevance Today ??

Though evidently on the rise again, or at the very least maintaining a steady position/ stance within the world of fashion, it is unlikely that illustration will ever again attain the status it once held during the golden age of fashion illustration (years-). In saying this however, I do think that fashion illustration is held in higher regard today as an art form than that of fashion photography - comparable almost to the elevation of the Vinyl record over CDs in recent years. The rarity of illustration, from this perspective, is in fact an asset aiding their appreciation in todays photographic