History Of Fashion Illustration

Cedeno 1 Fashion illustration is a subject that I’ve been interested in since before I even knew what it was. Since I was young, I’ve always been drawing pretty girls in even prettier clothes, but never imagined that is was actually a genre of illustration. Unfortunately, fashion illustration now isn’t as popular as it once was in the early eighties and nineties, but it continues to be a passion of mine. This paper is divided into three parts: The Influencers, The Heavyhitters, and the Current Stars. The Influencers are artists whose techniques have been copied by the Heavy hitters, whose magnificent strides in fashion drawing for major fashion houses and designers greatly influenced the Current Stars of Today. As one can see, it is a constant circle of design, influence and technique, and this paper is a discovery of artists that I have come to admire for their work and their dedication to their craft.

The Influencers When thinking of fashion illustration, these artists probably do not come to mind, but their style and techniques have been graciously copied by many of the other artists I’ll talk about, so it is necessary to mention them. Although some of these illustrators did not solely focus on fashion, their flair and modern artistic thinking really paved the way for future illustrators.

Charles Dana Gibson Born in 1867 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Charles Dana Gibson is, in my opinion, the first successful fashion illustrator. His creation of the Gibson girl, a beautiful twenty-something female with soft hair piled in a carefully constructed chignon, stiff shirtwaist, and wistful yet mischievous smile created frenzy in the Victorian era and made him a superstar. His bold craftsmanship in the black pen and ink drawings idealized and glorified women, and lots of

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Cedeno 2 people looked for fashion ideas and moral inspiration in the Gibson girl. She was seen as the ideal woman. She could be spunky and sentimental, poised and feminine, yet independent all at the same time. Gibson’s drawings were in demand at all of the major magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar or the Century, and was fought over by these magazines for exclusive rights for his feisty illustrations. For inspiration, Gibson scored through different English and American magazines for his own ideas, and used many society ladies as models for the Gibson Girls. He even created the Gibson man, a courteous and handsome young man who was always in awe of the Gibson girl’s beauty. In his illustrations, the women were always portrayed in a dominant position than the men, but the men never really seemed to mind, and never offended anyone. The Gibson girl was seen everywhere on everything. Her face was seen on common things such as stamps and large print books to uncommon things like tablecloths and wallpaper. However, by the 1920’s the prim, proper image of the Gibson girl was replaced by the fast and active flapper girl, and the Victorian era faded away. His drawings made a small comeback during the 1940’s era of Victorian nostalgia became popular for movies, and still continue to sell well even today. Gibson’s illustration really established character in his designs and artwork and had a recognizable style, which I think is important.

Coles Phillips

Coles Phillips was not really a fashion illustrator, but he often drew ads featuring accessories and clothes often worn by the everyday woman. His technique of the “fade away” line, which emphasized form and shape, made his drawings of active, modern women really shine. His technique has been ripped off too many times to count by artists not just limited to

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Cedeno 3 fashion. The fade away line has become almost essential in fashion illustration in order to communicate and express the line of the body in clothes, and it is a tooI that many illustrators still use today. The mind’s eye fills in the body, which encourages imagination. Bold flat colors and simple shape also made this Golden Age illustrator’s technique legendary.

JC Leyendecker JC Leyendecker is the opposite of Charles Dana Gibson, in his subject of drawings, because instead of drawing fashionable ladies, he drew dapper young males for most of his drawings. An illustrator by trade, Leyendecker came from Germany and took New York by storm with his creation of the Arrow Head Man, the mascot for Arrow Head shirt Collar Company. His illustrations featured sophisticated, in control society men who women anted and men wanted to be. Leyendecker image created a brand for Arrow Head, providing more customers who wanted to look fashionable and smart. Along with his Arrow Head men, Leyendecker also drew more than 350 Saturday Evening Post covers, and responsible for cementing our images of Santa Claus and New Year’s Baby.

Bob Peak Another advertising illustrator, Bob Peak is most known for his movie poster art, hence his title as the “father of the modern movie poster”. I like to look at his advertising and editorial magazine art for fashion inspiration though because of his bold colors and large use of patterns. There is a strong Coles Phillips influence in all of his work but it is somewhat opposite. Instead of the form of the body being faded into the background, the facial features are faded, and all you see is the clothes or accessories being advertised. Many of his advertisements appeared in four of

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Cedeno 4 the Seven Sisters- magazines that used illustrations frequently from as early as the 1800’s to the early 1990’s. His collage effect, which was drawing something within another object, is another technique that used by some fashion illustrators and lots of comic artists. Peak’s mentality on his art and seeing art as business is a philosophy that I respect and heavily admire, although it is somewhat shallow. Peak drew for money, thought and often demanded that he should get paid a great deal for his talent and hard work. Who wouldn’t agree with that?

Erté Russian-born Romain de Tirtoff, or Erté as he was commonly known as, was a flamboyant and foremost costume and stage designer in the Art Deco period. Born in St. Petersburg, Erte’s flair for dramatic design was present even as a child. He created his first successful costume design when he was five years old, and his determination to draw fashion surpassed his father’s wishes for him to join the Russian military. Erté moved to Paris in 1912 and gained a contract with Harper’s Bazaar, who he continued to draw for, for twenty-two years. What Erté is most reminded fore is his glorious designs for costumes and set designs for the stage, most notably Folies-Bergére in Paris, and George White’s Scandals in New York. Patrons and viewers alike loved his appreciation of the sinuous and lyrical human figure. In his drawings, all of the dancers are in constant movement, and their entire costumes feature plenty of detail. The simple flat shapes of color add to Erte’s strong composition, and I love the elegant dramaticism of his pieces.

René Grau Born Count Zavagli Ricciardelli delle Caminate in 1910, Rimini, Italy, Rene Grau’s

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Cedeno 5 career was as grand and lengthy as his name. He had always lived a glamorous life, jet-setting to different posh hotels with his mother when his parents divorced when he was three. Grau wanted to be an architect, but his family’s future financial woes prevented him from doing so. He became an a fashion illustrator by the advice and guidance of an Italian magazine editor, and by the age of eighteen, he was already living comfortably by selling his work to different Italian, English and German magazines. When fascism started to rise in Italy during World War I, Grau moved to Paris with his mother, and continued his career there. His work brought him in contact with designers such as Balenciaga and Schiaparelli, and also met Christian Dior, who would continue to be his best patron and business partner for more than fifty years. Le Figaro, a Parisian newspaper Grau was working for, sent him to Cannes during WWII to see the many fashion house subsidiaries that resided there. Grau was bored with the designers that he saw, and was soon elated when Dior asked him to help launch his revolutionary “New Look” campaign in 1947. The simple yet highly evocative style of Grau’s was perfect for the moment and set the mood for the campaign, and the advertisements were highly popular. Grau came to live in the United States for a while in 1948, but soon left because he thought there was a lack in artistic expression. Along with illustrations for Dior, Grau also provided illustrations for different opera productions such as Moulin rouge, and advisements for many opera houses. Less is more perfectly describes Grau’s style, which is direct, uncluttered and supremely simple. He has a trademark of only revealing one body part of his subjects, usually a gloved arm or shapely ankle. These designs of his are wittily erotic and give the onlooker plenty to scope on their own. Spontaneity is another major characteristic of his work, with a casual hastiness that many have tried to mimic. I love his uses of strong colors in the foreground, and deep yet bold colors in the

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Cedeno 6 background, such as using deep browns and blacks and vivid reds. Grau’s illustration always told a story, his characters and models full of life, and composition bursting with cinematic, dramatic tension. He also uses his architectural background in his framing and composition, giving his work a graphic and modern feel.

The Heavy hitters . From the 1950’s to the late eighties, fashion illustration was a classy and effective way to show the mastery and dramatic flair of clothes through illustration. Before the age of fashion models and photography, it was fashion illustration that dominated magazines like Woman’s Wear Daily, Harper’s Bazaar and W. Instead of the quirky spot illustration, there were entire spreads dedicated to these particular artists drawing for major fashion houses. They are seen as the most influential, and all share a passion for color, style and most importantly, attitude.

Kenneth Paul Block Kenneth Paul Block made his mark after graduating from Parsons School of Design as a famous fashion illustrator, and is probably the most influential. He was witnessed and was one of the first fashion artists to record one of the most important periods in fashion history: the post war shift. He was the first on the fashion scene as a in house illustrator for Fairchild Publications, and drew covers for major magazines like W and Women’s Wear Daily, and drew for major fashion houses such as Balenciaga, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. He was also the first to document new fashion designers such as Marc Jacobs Perry Ellis and Halston. His fluid pen and ink drawings with watercolor have a clear concise form and communicate the line in the body perfectly. Block later turned to portraiture, drawing portraits of society ladies such as Jackie

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Cedeno 7 Kennedy.

Joe Eula All the major fashion houses and designers trusted Joe Eula’s talent quick drawing skills, so it was no surprise that he was one of the most sought after illustrators of his time. Born in 1925, Norwalk, Connecticut, Eula’s prescient instinct and nature eye won the attention of Halston fashion house, and he became their muse. With his quick, rapid lines and sketchy loose detail, Eula was considered the fastest pencil in the field, and drew on location at the Paris shows for Chanel, Givenchy, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent, to name a quick few. His first illustrations were published in Town and Country. His work was seen as classy, yet held a deconstructed look that added to the flair and life of the clothes. I admire his use of watercolor and especially his use of markers, a medium that I love, but is uncommon to use in large scale pieces.

Antonio Antonio Lopez, simply known as Antonio, was born in Utado, Puerto Rico, but soon moved to New York City when he was seven with his parents. His parents often asked him to help with their jobs in order to keep him off the streets. His mother worked as an embroiderer, who Antonio drew flowers for. His father worked as a mannequin maker, and Antonio would help him apply makeup and stitch the wigs on the figures. Wanted to pursue a career in dance, Antonio got some success by dancing on children’s TV shows, but turned back to drawing. Extremely talented, Lopez was accepted to the Traphagen School of Fashion at the age of twelve, in part of a program that reached out to inner-city school children. Encouraged by his

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Cedeno 8 teachers who saw his love of drawing and design, he attended the High School of Art and Design and from there was accepted into the Fashion Institute of Technology. Lopez’s talent was extremely appreciated by his teachers, and had a work-study job throughout FIT at Fairchild Publications. They too soon noticed his flair for women’s heads, and sent him to see the new season of the Lilly Dache collection in the early 1960’s. One of his drawings soon appeared in the front page of the paper, and was offered a permanent job. But after six months of working at Fairchild, Lopez took another offer at the New York Times and from there formed powerful and long-lasting relationships with fashion editors and designers. His collaboration with fashion editors Patricia Peterson and Carrie Donovan caused him to explore different art styles, such as Pop Art and Surrealism. He met designer Juan Ramos, was his lover and business partner throughout his life. He was also part of the American Pop Art movement in Paris in the 1970’s, along with legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. His career took him took him to major cities such as Tokyo, Japan, Sydney, Australia, and Milan, Italy. Unlike other designer’s that I’ve talked about, Antonio’s drawing style never looks the same, and yet you can tell that it’s his. He worked in a variety of materials, from pen and ink to watercolor, but in each illustration, the composition is different. Not many illustrators have this kind of multi-faceted talent, and I think that’s what so many of his employers and peers in his field saw.

David Downton David Downton did not plan on being a fashion illustrator, but because of his style, he was asked to do certain fashion sketches, and then found himself immersed the fantasy world of couture. Born in Britain, Downton had been a freelance illustrator for fifteen years before he turned to fashion in 1996. He was sent to draw at a Parish haute couture show, and was soon

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Cedeno 9 blown away by what he called the parallel universe of indulgence. He saw fashion as inspiring and a lot to draw. Anything could catch his eye, and he would draw dozens of sketches on layout paper before he would settle on a concrete idea. Then, when he considered the drawing just right, he would begin a process to meticulously deconstruct the composition so that the artwork has a spontaneous effect. He considered this the hardest part of his drawing process. What I really admire about Downton’s illustrations is his flat shapes and color and very little line, which is very reminiscent of Coles Phillips’ technique, but applied in the world of fashion illustration. His drawing style is dark and dramatic, and all of his successful drawings have fluidity and a mastery of his choice of medium. I especially admire his work in watercolor and gouache, saturated cutpaper college drawings, and his line drawings in black India ink.

Current Stars Now that we are in the age of photography and scantily clad models, fashion illustration is not as affluent as it once was. Fashion illustration is not seen as a need for fashion houses, and the work is very infrequent. Also, most of the fashion work I see today I do not like, because either I don’t like the style or it is just some junk drawn on a photograph in Photoshop, which I don’t really see as art. These artists managed to have artistic talent that also uses fashion, and a strong attitude that I admire and want to live up to.

Marguerite Sauvage Marguerite Sauvage, an illustrator based in Paris, is definitely a girl after my own heart. In business since 2001, Sauvage’s chic modern illustration feature the illustrious lifestyle of today’s trendsetters, and most of them happen to be girls wearing hot clothes. Her colorful

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Cedeno 10 drawings, which are usually composed by pencils and inks and colored in Photoshop, have caught the attention of major magazines like Elle, and heavily in demand for companies such as Playstation, Apple, and Motorola. Her artwork has been published and exposed overseas in various fields. Marguerite uses new technology in a traditional way that is stylish yet accessible and understandable to other people, and in my opinion is part of the new information age of fashion illustration. She has a strong graphic approach to fashion illustration that appeals to different markets, and her style is full of heavy patterns, pastel colors, and a strong sense of character and attitude in every girl she draws. The way she uses patterns is very remiscent of Bob Peak’s style, and her mentality on art is another that I respect and agree with. “Happiness and anti-stress: I just want to make things prettier.” Sauvage has definitely accomplished this.

Jason Brooks Jason Brooks’ style almost looks like a comic book, with his sharp two-dimensional edges, flat shapes and minimal shading. It is a pleasantly graphic approach to illustration, and many of his clients, which include L’Oreal, Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, and music bands Fierce Angle and Hekandi, love his technological approach to illustration. Brooks is credited with being one of the first fashion illustrators to fully embrace using computer art programs such as Photoshop. Jason also illustrates extremely detailed interiors and album covers. His glamorous way of portraying lifestyles promote business for many lifestyle and luxury brands, and his unique imagination also establish a visual language all of his own that has lead him to begin developing his own brand.

François Berthoud

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Cedeno 11 Based in Milan, Berthoud’s illustrations can be commonly seen in magazines like Vogue, The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine and Numero. His advertising work is used for department store campaigns, cosmetic brands and numerous fashion designers. Francois Berthoud’s style is a combination of Grau, Coles Phillips and Bob Peak all rolled into one fashionable package. He draws various body parts clad in sexy boots and stilettos, and figures clad in flowing dresses. Berthoud also has a trademark of painting compositions in monochromatic tones, which provides a classy alternative to different valued pieces from other artists.

Conclusion Many of these fashion artists’ style are different, but all of them share a need to expression fashion in an artistic light. From tradition pen and ink to using layers in Photoshop, all of these illustrators demonstrate dedication to their field, expert draftsmanship, and a strong will to succeed at something that they love to do.

Gallery

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Charles Dana Gibson

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Coles Phillips

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Bob Peak

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J.C.

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Erté

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Rene Grau

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Joe Eula

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Antonio

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David Downton

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Marguerite Sauvage

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Jason Brooks

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Francois Bethoud

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http://www.sunyulster.edu/_media/campus_life/nytsm (accessed Nov 15, 2008). The Art of Fashion

Cedeno 23 "ERTÉ.COM." SevenArts Limited. http://www.erte.com/default-old.htm (accessed Nov 17, 2008). "François Berthoud.com." Katja Martinez Agency. http://www.francoisberthoud.com/ (accessed Nov 17, 2008). "Gibson Girls.com." Biz-Sites, Inc.. 2006. http://www.gibson-girls.com/index.html (accessed Nov 12, 2008). "Joe Eula." Times UK., 13 Nov 2004,. "ROGallery.com." 2008. http://www.rogallery.com/lopez_antonio/lopez-bio.h (accessed Nov 17, 2008). "The story of a fashion illustrator René Gruau." Tasha Fashion Site. http://www.fashion.vavpycom.net/gruaustory.htm (accessed Nov 17, 2008). Softgrey. "Favorite Read." The Fashion Spot. 3 Sep 2008. http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f81/drawing-f (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Annunci, Don. "Inizio>Milano." Don Annunci. 2004. http://milano.campusanuncios.com/stampareeventi170 (accessed Nov 17, 2008). Brooks, Jason. "Jason Brooks.com." Jason Brooks. 2006. http://www.jasonbrooks.com/portfolio/ (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Daveh, Mr.. "EXPERIMATION." Blogger. 4 Feb 2008. http://experimation.blogspot.com/2008/02/jc-leyend (accessed Nov 19, 2008). de Guardiola, Susan. "Elegant Arts.org." 12 May 2004. http://www.elegantarts.org/1905/dances.htm (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Downton, David. "David Downton.com." David Downton. http://www.daviddownton.com/html/fashionillus.htm (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Glenville, Tony. "David Downton.com." David Downton. http://www.daviddownton.com/html/interview.htm Hubauer, Margarethe. "Margarethe Hubauer International Illustration." http://www.margarethehubauer.de/dw/kuenstler.php/ (accessed Nov 18, 2008). Lopez, Antonio. "Ask Art.com." 2008. http://www.askart.com/askart/artists/search/artist (accessed Nov 17, 2008). Lopez, Antonio. "Flickr.com." 12 Sep 2007. www.flickr.com/photos/ finalfashion/1368050418/ (accessed Nov 18, 2008).

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Cedeno 24 Nesbit, Evelyn. "EvelynNesbit.com." Evelyn Nesbit. 1999. http://evelynnesbit.com/picsengibson.htm (accessed Nov 15, 2008). Platnick, Norm. "Coles Phillips and the Fade-Away Lady." American Art Archives. 2005. http://www.americanartarchives.com/phillips,c2.htm (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Reed, Walt The Illustrator in America: 1860-2000.. 2003. Sauvage, Marguerite. "Dans un Champ: Les Gribouilles de Marguerite." Marguerite Sauvage. Feb 2008. http://margueritesauvage.com/blog/?page_id=2 (accessed Nov 12, 2008). Sonnenburg, Axel. "The Opera-Gloved Fashion Illustrations of Rene Gruau." Opera Gloves.com. http://www.operagloves.com/fashion/renegruau/reneg (accessed Nov 15, 2008). Tinnely, James. "Yves Saint Laurent: Rest in Piece." Women Management Blog. 2 Jun 2008. http://womenmanagement.blogspot.com/2008/06/yves-s (accessed Nov 16, 2008). Walden, Simon. "Digital Women." Simon Walden. http://www.justkiss.com/psp/cre_design.htm (accessed Nov 19, 2

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