Well hello beautiful fashionistas and fashionistos!
Today’s blog is special because we’re talking FASHION ILLUSTRATION! Fashion illustration was the original print, advertisement and photography of the Fashion industry. As my friend Marisa Jarae states, “it’s the original graphic design.” This week, I had the honor of taking a tour of the Drawn to Glamour exhibit at the Denver Art Museum with Fashion Illustrator Jim Howard and Florence Müller.
Jim Howard became a fashion illustrator for Nieman Marcus in the late 50’s and worked on many advertising campaigns for the luxury department store. He eventually moved to NYC and did much freelance work for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller, B. Altmanm and many more. He had many works published in the New York Times while working for Saks he created advertisements for top designer brands of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, and Calvin Klein to name a few.
If you’ve ever attempted to create a fashion illustration, a popular way to do it is starting with 9 circles in a vertical line, that you then manipulate into forming a body. What I found so interesting is that Jim Howard starts with the head first and then creates the body. He’s developed a skill and talent over the years that he is able to create fashion illustrations without a sketch up or rough draft.
One of the things that you will see throughout the illustrations of Jim Howard is that the clothes in his illustrations have texture. Even though it is 2 dimensional, you’re able to see texture within the pieces. When asked about these, he said that when he drew images of clothing, he studied the clothing and observed the stitching, material, the way it flowed etc. and that is why he is able to achieve that look.
I asked Jim Howard if he could go back and give advice to himself, knowing what he knows now. He said that he did not have any advice for himself because he did not have any regrets, he did what he loved for his entire life and was able to make a career out of it.
This advice, is something we all need to hear! As we all work towards creating our dream life, I hope that we can look back and have no regrets.
The Drawn to Glamour exhibit at the Denver Art Museum starts today and runs through August! You can purchase tickets for the exhibit here.
