As glossy images cover the majority of fashion in today’s society, it is rare to come across a designer sketch or illustration that conveys the emotion of fashion. Joelle Chariau’s has collected one of the most historical fashion illustration archives in the world, and is showcasing it for the first time to the public at the Design Museum London. Drawing Fashion is the enchanting look into the world of fashion illustration over the past 100 years. It showcases the famous works of the most creative illustrators at their career heights, alongside film clips of the artists at work.
In the beginning of the 20th century, George Lepape took fashion illustration to a new level with the rising demand for magazine illustrations. His illustrations for Vogue covers and designers not only showcase the fashion of the times, but give personality to the settings in which it was worn. These drawings evoke the high spirit of the roaring 20s through the lighter and more embellished fashions of the period.
The artistic New Look, created by René Gruau for Dior in the 1950s, followed as the vision for modern magazines and advertisement. Gruau’s illustrations convey facial expressions and exemplify specific parts of the body, particular garments, and detailed fabric patterns.
As the exhibit moves into the late 20th century, Antonio’s dynamic Pop Art images are impossible to miss. His illustrations for design houses and portraits of celebrities convey the influence of Andy Warhol’s lead in the 1960s and 1970s, and the cultural highs of the 1980s, with a cartoonish style.
Turning down the last corridor of the exhibition, today’s fashion illustrators give sight and hope to the future of fashion illustration. Current illustrators, including Mats Gustafson, François Berthoud and Aurore de la Morinerie, continue to capture the movement and light of fashion through different personal styles.
The illustrations intertwine the beauty of fashion with cultural changes throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Drawing Fashion is a visit into the past and a fashionable view of the future.
Design Museum London
28 Shad Thames
London SE1 2YD
Drawing Fashion
3 November, 2010- March 6, 2011
Opening Hours: Daily 10am-5.45pm, last admission at 5.15pm.
Office 020 7403 6933
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