Fashion illustration fulfils several objectives for designers. At the very outset of the design process, it helps turn an idea – which until then only existed as a tangled web of possibilities in the designer’s mind – into something tangible. After this, once the design is on paper, the designer can use the drawing to refine the details of the garment and its production, bringing the original idea ever closer to its actual realization.
Even the great fashion designers recognize the vital importance of this first paper-based stage, which later becomes a three-dimensional, living garment. We need only look at the illustrations of Christian Lacroix, in which colour stains are crucial for representing volumes of fabric; the rapid, almost blurred strokes of Karl Lagerfeld, or the elongated, angular, almost alien-like figures of Giambatista Valli.
At the illustration stage, the individual style of each of these great designers shines through, and these illustrations are, in themselves, further proof of their great talent. Working with fashion illustrations is a stepping stone to working with patterns; the basic structure when the garment starts to take shape. The initial prototype uses a garment as a model; this is then altered and transformed as necessary, until the new original piece is created. Using illustrated figures, the volume of the material, the stitching and even the tiniest detail can be studied from an aesthetic and also functional perspective.
Modern Fashion Illustration is a compilation of hundreds of fashion illustrations. It is a book based on the design sketch, and its nine chapters cover basic garments, as well as patterns and accessories. Coats, shirts, skirts, sweaters, pants, t-shirts and dresses are illustrated on women in dynamic poses enabling the motion to breathe life into the garments.
The illustrations show the figure first unclothed and then clothed, giving a very accurate impression of how the end garment will look on a real-life model.This book is perfect for any aspiring fashion illustrator. It is an indispensable collection for laying the foundations, that, in time, once you become familiar with the ins and outs of these first steps, can help you to develop your own and perhaps brilliant style.