Did you ever thought of making your own clothes, own label and own shop when you are young? I believe it’s many fashion designer’s dreams! Today, let’s see how my new friend, Poppy, made her dream come true :)

Poppy Lissiman was founded in 2009, what made you start doing your own brand?
It sounds really clichéd but I started my own label after I couldn’t find certain pieces in the market that I wanted to wear. My mother taught me to sew at a young age so I have always made clothes for myself and occasionally friends, starting my own label just seemed like the most natural thing to do. It has always been a goal to have my own shop one day as well, starting my label would be the first stepping stone to getting my name out there and eventually having my own store.

What do you want people to feel when they are wearing Poppy Lissiman?
I want them to feel confident and that they’re wearing something that is unique and good quality.

Can you share the process of making a collection with us?
I usually start with a loose theme but it doesn’t really start to take shape until I see the fabrics I want to work with and then the colour palate. Thats when the designs really start to take form. Prints have always been a best seller for me and a medium I love to work with so I tend to pick out a couple of prints first then work the rest of the collection around them with the other block colours, trimmings, finishings etc. Even right towards the end of the sample making I am still designing extra pieces and editing out ones I dont think fit with the rest of the collection.

Do you have any favorite collection or pieces among your creations?
Every new collection I work on is my new favourite! In my very first collection (Spring Summer 2009) I did a biker jacket in electric blue satin with gold zips. It was my best selling piece for that collection and I repeated the style again with a few slight changes for the following season; AW2010, in a mustard yellow with black polka dots, this piece sold equality as well and I have almost worn this sample to death.

Do you think Australia is a good place for fashion business? Any advantages?
Yes and no, I live in Perth in Western Australia which is quite isolated from other more fashion driven cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Most of the fabric suppliers in Australia are based in Sydney and Melbourne and what is available is limited which is why I source my fabrics overseas. On the other hand the fashion community in Perth, and Australia for that matter is very nurturing of young designers and understand the difficulties of starting a small business. There are a lot of government grants available to designers to help them through the first couple of years of their business.

Any advice for the people who are working like you?
Be prepared for critique, knock backs and lots of hard work that sometimes doesnt feel very creative at all but after a while it all starts to pay off. Always keep a positive attitude and if you truely love what you do it will never really feel like work anyway.

We all know South Africa is developing rapidly in recent years, including fashion industry. We are so happy to have a chance to talk with Alice Heusser from Lalesso. She is so kind to talk about how she builded up her own brand Lalesso and how her design life is in South Africa! At the moment as we talked, she is right in Diani Beach, Kenya, designing her new collection and the studio is out-doors over looking the Indian Ocean! It really surprised us and the scene is really amazing!

Lalesso was founded by you and Olivia in 2009, what made you start doing your own brand?
I went up to Kenya, Olivia’s home country over New Year and we took a road trip up to Lamu, a small historic arcepelego on the North Coast of Kenya. We bought a whole lot of vintage lesso’s and upon our return to South Africa, made some simple skirts out of them (the trademark lalesso skirt, still our most popular design!). Fellow students and friends all remarked on them so we decided make 100 skirts and from there the brand was born.

What is your daily routine of being the director in Lalesso?
We go to the office every morning and work on admin and design. Depending of the time of year we are either in full time design mode or working on other aspects of the brand, like marketing and production.

What do you want people to feel when they are wearing Lalesso?

We want people to feel beautiful but most importantly we want them to feel comfortable and unrestricted.  We want them to step into the world of the African tropic’s when they slip on a Lalesso garment on.

What is the most enjoyable moments of designing the collections?
The most enjoyable is working on the concept and then seeing come alive. From an idea, to the sketch to the sample. It’s such a creative process and so magical each time.

And the most difficult?

Trying to decide what to keep in the collection and what to cut because we so often love every piece we design but cant keep them all, otherwise the collection would be far to big!

Do you think South Africa is a good place for fashion business? Any advantages?
We are based in South Africa and in Kenya. They are both hugely inspirational places to live in but it does mean we have to travel a lot to meet with buyers and attend trade show.

During your working process, where is your inspiration or research come from?
We get inspired by so much! Africa is a constant inspiration. For the S/S ’11 collection we looked to the ethereal movements of the sea and the world that surrounds it.

What will you do when you are running out of ideas?
We will cross that bridge if we ever get there but at the moment we have too many ideas!

Will you use computer in your creative process? Or you love to keep things in paper?
We use the computer to design the textiles but we both love good old fashioned paper and pen when it come to designing the clothes.

We know that you have Fashionary, which part of it do you love the most?
I love the model silhouettes, it makes sketching so much easier as you don’t have worry about proportion yet you can still make the drawings look unique stay true to your own personal style. I also love all the handy information, the size charts etc can be really helpful.

What sketching tools you like to use when you sketch your outfits?
I love pen and pencil crayons.

Any advice for the people who are working like you?
Always keep yourself inspired and be positive, Olivia and I are very firm believers that the energy you give out it what you attract back into your life. We both make an effort to always be positive and expect the best!

Start from this week, we will interview a number of fashion designers worldwide and see how they build up their own brand. We can also catch a glimpse of their initial sketches on Fashionary! Our first guest is Timm Suessbrich, he founded barre|noire together with Aleida Roser. Following their collective studies in fashion design in Berlin, and further international design projects in Paris and Los Angeles, among other locations;  they decided in August 2009 to found their own label, barre|noire.

Let’s see our interview with him.

What do you want people to feel when they are wearing barre|noire?
We want to make them feel special and they definitely should feel comfortable.

With the technology advantages, print becomes more and more sophisticated and well engineered. Digital print taking the role of the traditional screen printing and bring the design to another level of possibilites. I am driven crazy by the vivid color and the shade of the print that overwhelmed the whole body. We would love to share some of the collections we love over the recent years.

Alexander McQueen Spring Summer 2010

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

McQueen SS2010 is a collection telling the story of women morphing into creatures of the deep as the seas slowly reclaimed planet earth. The models wore sculpted dresses, with computerised, digitally-enhanced prints of fantastical fish, snakes, praying mantis, moths, beetles and giant squid.

Distressed metal harnesses, girdles and collars clung, crablike, in the manner of carapaces. Some girls wore dresses in iridescent tulle with waving “fronds”, suggesting cyber-jellyfish; others gleamed in golden, fish-scale ‘armour’ like warrior-mermaids.

Prada Spring Summer 2008

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

Prada SS08 collection entitled “Florid”. Prada says it “represents the somewhat perverse intersection between Hieronymus Bosch and Aubrey Beardsley. The image depicts an intense landscape of man-eating flowers, dragons, hybrid creatures and eerie fairies.”

It is completely vibrant and romantic, with local LA artist James Jean’s amazing illustration on the chiffon dress, the 70s trousers and the qi-pao style one-piece……leading us to the fantasy wonderland of Prada.

Alexander McQueen Spring Summer 2009

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

The spectacular multi coloured geometrical crystal prints are the icon of Alexander McQueen’s SS09 collection. Mcqueen applied them to leggings, dresses, and jackets. The prints looks good both from a distance and close up, while their sharp, geometric lines keep them feeling sharp as opposed to frumpy.

The prints seem to us to be both futuristic and at the same time, with their sharp, symmetrical geometric nature, redolent of futurist designs, and graphic design from the 20s and 30s, with a sort of ‘brave new world’ attitude.

Balenciaga Spring Summer 2008

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

Spring 2008 Balenciaga show was a smashing hit, even if many popped up the question if they are wearable or not referring to Ghesquiere’s new Balenciaga designs: sculptural silhouettes, prominent hips, shoulders and gladiator shoes, matching with the incredible colorful floral prints.

Mary Katrantzou Autumn Winter 2011/2012

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

Mary Katrantzou AW11 collection left the audience speechless in London fashion week. It can only be described as a living work of art. Exquisite in every detail, from the prints to the silhouette, the whole collection felt very haute couture.

The prints were derived from priceless objets d’art: Fabergé eggs, Qianlong dynasty china laid perfectly across the female form in rich decadent prints. The silhouette of rounded skirts was inspired by the form of porcelain bowls and peplums over the hips imitated opened and halved Fabergé eggs. The collection is liberated and a creatively wearable art.

McQueen Autumn Winter 2009/2010 Menswear

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

Dries Van Noten Autumn Winter 2008/2009

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

DVN experiment traditional painting and marblized printing technique that beautifully distorted the paisleys and micro flowers. One of the thing I love about this collection is the use of subtle color yet a very colorful combination.

The collection also put together with multi-strapped, multicolored high-heeled sandals, the impression of grace in movement became poetically compelling. Even though there was, ultimately, a nod toward the ethnic embroidered vest and dress beloved by classic Dries customers.

Basso and Brooke Spring Summer 2009

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

Basso & Brooke’s inspiration for Spring/Summer 09 is the idea of a “High-Tech Romance”. The story offers a glimpse into the spirit and grandeur of the Heian era of Japan. The manipulation and asymmetrical essence of natural elements is an important influence for this season’s prints.

Traditional Japanese motifs including rabbits, birds, flowers, waves, sumi-e strokes, calligraphy are celebrated and contrasted against simple and technologic graphic patterns. Signature dresses are the foundation of the collection with the technical construction of the garments being mathematical and logical.

Manish Arora Spring Summer 2009

Full Collection | Catwalk Video

“Circus was a theme which I thought was easily related to everybody, it could be a child, it could be an adult, it could be all young.” Manish Arora’s SS09 collection inspired by acrobats, clowns, show animals.

Digitally printed sequin and traditional Indian gota embroideries are important elements in this collection of mini skirts, voluminous jackets, ruffled skirts combined with clown pants, bat-wing sleeves and jumpsuits. Scenes from the circus can be found embroidered and bejeweled with Crystallized – Swarovski Elements. He poured whimsy and glee into the center ring for his Spring/Summer 09 collections in Paris.

Setareh Mohtarez

Full Collection

If you are love galaxy elements, you definitely can’t miss out the SS09 collection from Setareh Mohtarez. Setareh Mohtarez is a NYC-based designer whose work combines shape, movement, texture, and color.

She nurtured her creative vision while attending the fashion department at the Antwerp Royal Academy. After delivering her award-winning “Brightness Dawn” collection in 2009, she started her eponymous label. Setareh’s vision embraces innovation and fantasy, while keeping a strong respect for classic elegance. She is drawn to the mysterious and her work tells a distinct story that is close to her heart.

Any more you guys love to share with us?

I am always amazed that how people can turn thread into fabric, and then into garments — by using their own hands. They seems to have everything in their mind and they are just like a composer conducting the thread together for a symphony, making it as an art performance. I would love to share some of our favourite knitwear brands/designers.

1) Sandra Backland, based in Stockholm, Sweden

2) Mark Fast, based in London, UK

3) Sibling, based in London, UK

4) Sonia Rykiel, based in Paris, France

“I feel more like a novelist than a fashion designer,” Queen of knits Sonia Rykiel is famous for inventing inside-out stitching, no-hem and ‘un-lined’ pieces that allowed women the freedom to dress for their personality.  A woman to be admired, oui?

5) Missoni, based in Varese, Italy

Missoni is an Italian fashion house based in Varese. It is famous for its unique knitwear, made from a variety of fabrics in colourful patterns. Missoni knitwear is known for its multitude of patterns such as stripes, geometrics, and abstract florals, in a kaleidoscope of colours!

6) Louise Goldin, based in London, UK

Louise Goldin, luxury knitwear designer extraordinaire, has transformed the way we look at woollies, taking the genre in a whole new direction: the future. It really surprised me when Rihanna wore Goldin sheer-panelled maxi dress in red stripes in the Nightclub’s NYE party.
She looks sexy with the see-through piece!

7) Tim Ryan, based in London, UK

Irish fashion designer Tim Ryan’s knitwear are totally sexy and sophisticated. With 12 years of self – taughing experience, he use pure wools, silk yarns and lots of lurex and glitter to make his dresses alive. I love the yarn fringe which make the magical light reflect!

8) Timothy James Andrews, based in London, UK

Andrews is eager to break conventions and illicit surprised reactions, the colourful pom pom plus, amazing chunky hand knits and structural silhouette make people feel like entering to the cartoon movie scene! Wearing his pieces must be full of fun!

9) cooperativedesigns, based in London, UK

Cooperative Designs is a London based design duo Annalisa Dunn and Dorothee Hagemann. Known for their playful designs and unreal silhouettes, they make very special pieces overflowing with personality. They always try to give things humorous, slightly ironical side…

10) Everlasting Sprout, based in Tokyo, Japan

Keiichi Muramatsu launched his career as a japanese fashion designer from ’05 S/S Tokyo Collection.  He believes clothes are the canvas, material is the paint, and the designer creates with unbounded imagination. With rich texture and romantic colors, he creates stories full of imagination.

11) Clarissa Labin, based in Berlin, Germany

The berlin-based designer Clarissa Bone bring cool Scandinavian collections. She finds inspiration in nature, interesting surfaces, graphics and colors. Playful colours like neon yellow and washed out salmon make each piece your friendliest cold-winter fall back.

12) Simone Shailes, based in London, UK

Thanks Susie bubble, I ‘meet’ this fresh 08 Central Saint Martin MA grad knitwear designer. The loopy and baggy knits caught my eye. The cardigans, dresses and merino wool jackets all boasting feather like folds.

13) Alice by Temperley, based in London, UK

London label ALICE by Temperley’s collections are a wonderful hybrid of luxe fabrics and fun, flirtatious designs.Using 1920s-40s Africa as a starting point,Temperley’s Cruise collection is a melting pot of Military and traditional inspiration. I love her modern take of African safari pattern so much! How about you?

14) Eternal child, based in Istanbul, Turkey

Eternal Child is an Istanbul based collection, particularly renowned for highly creative knit design. The collection uses an innovative mix of knit structures and contrasting textures.
Elegant and modern intarsia and jacquard techniques create its signature style.

15) Clare Tough, Balerna, Switzerland

It’s not easy to wear the boudoir trend without appearing overtly sexual, but Clare Tough’s collections make the Lingerie-like clothes become garments which you can definitely wear it out daily. It’s romantic, sexy and comfortable via Clare’s hands.

The fashion illustration is an unique art. You need to strike a balance between the whole drawing and the details of the garment. This is why it is very hard to master. If you miss our PART 1, you can take a look at here. And we would love to continue to sequent below.

1) Danny Roberts, based in California, USA

Danny’s artwork was honored by being the first featured portfolio of 2007 Graduates on the WGSN Generation Now Website, a unique showcase of graduating talent from the world’s leading universities and design colleges.

Despite his young age, he has been widely known, especially when you consider his publications. Being one of my favorite fashion artist, you can find a more detailed interview we did here.

2) Ruben Toledo, based in New York, USA

Ruben Toledo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1961 and is at once a painter, sculptor, illustrator, fashion chronicler and critic, and surrealist. He has designed mannequins, store windows, award statuettes, scarves, fabrics, dishes and carpets. His collaboration with his fashion designer wife, Isabel Toledo, was the subject of both a book and a museum exhibition titled Toledo/Toledo: A Marriage of Art and Fashion at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

3) Masaki Mizuno, based in Tokyo, Japan

Masaki’s works involves the expression of the inner psychology; a self reflection mirrored through art. In order to express the vision and subject matter of my work, he find that it is important to extract ideas from within my own perspective and senses. His work is analogue, hand painted with acrylic, air-brush, and rollers

4) Fifi Lapin, based in England.

The Martin Margiela in the fashion illustration field. Her personal profile is not well known. But she really get a unique type of drawing style and character. The most stylish rabbit in the world!

5) Frederick Watson, based in Toronto, Canada

Frederick launched a series of fashion-inspired posters which quickly became hot collector’s items in Toronto in the 60s. These were dramatic and elegant studies in black and white. I love his style, one of the most traditional elegance of stroke and which is highly missed nowadays.

6) Antoine Helbert, based in Strasbourg, France

Antoine Helbert is a master painter, sculptor and illustrator. His styles of graphic, fashion, history, and advertising are very different, but equally outstanding. And the content of the illustrations are the most interesting thing to look at.

7) Alberto Seveso, based in Italy

Alberto’s style of illustration is stunningly amazing and unique. His use of layering and texturing make the illustration like a piece of art.

8) Vincent Bakkum, based in Helsinki, Finland

Born and raised in Holland, graphic designer Vincent Bakkum has lived in Helsinki for the past two decades. He describes his aesthetic as such: “in love with the graphic qualities of a woman — her outlines, her bone structure, the shadows under the nose and lips, the knuckles of long slender fingers, the lightfall on her calves, pitch black, cheek-brushing eye lashes.”

9) Hannah Muller, based in Sweden

I adore Hannah’s style so much. Detailed and contemporary stroke with earth tone color. I would be so happy to see more art piece come out from her.

10) Leigh Viner, based in USA

Leigh is an artist in different media like painting, drawing, photographic and make-up. Her versatile skill definitely border her style. She has a gorgeous style but at the same time you can smell a rawness from them which make it very interesting. Adore them!

Here is an interview of Leigh.

11) Mats Gustafson, based in New York, USA

Mats studied costume and stage design at the Scandinavian Drama Institute in Stockholm and in 1978 had his first fashion illustrations published in British Vogue. He has painted for a host of international designers including Comme des Garcons, Chanel and Yohji Yamamoto and has collaborated with corporate clients such as Galeries Lafayette, Nike and Bergdorf Goodman. In 1993 and 1998 Galerie Bartsch and Chariau, Munich published limited edition catalogues dedicated to his work.

12) Masaki Ryo, based in Tokyo, Japan

His ability to capture the endearing and playful nature of our canine companions has caught many an eye and has earned the recognition of various clients including the renowned stationary company Caspari, Inc. They have released a line of products featuring Masaki’s illustrations, including but not limited to his artwork of dogs, which have been very popular in the US, Europe, and Japan.

13) Wendy Plovmand, based in Copenhagen, Denmark

A contemporary style of illustration, Wendy combine a graphical approach into fashion illustration using mix media. She work independently with design, illustration and art since 2001 and has various exhibitions in London and New York.

14) Niki Pilkington, based in USA

Niki Pilkington is an illustrator who spends her time between Wales and London, focusing on fashion work, having been a fashion illustration student at college. Her work featured here is a very wholesome combination of style in two senses. One is in the fashion-conscious people she chooses as the subjects for her work, and the other is in the highly skilled way in which she puts this to paper.

15) Rebollo Manuel, based in Salamanca, Spain

Spanish illustrator Manuel Rebollo’s work stand out from others with his use of typography into the illustration. His use sketch manner of drawing and creates awesome artworks mostly dedicated to fashion.

16) Yuki, based in Nagoya, Japan

Yuki’s illustrations are drawn mainly with pure watercolor. He is fond of drawing fashionable works such as women, interior or a lifestyle in a delicate touch.

17) Reilly, based in London, England

Reilly is one of the new breed of illustrators mixing the wild imagination of an artist with the obsessive skill of the apple-mac wizard.

Combining dynamic rainbows swirls, repetitions of glossy lips and painstakingly observed come-hither eyes, then layering over tags, graffiti and found objects, as well as his own cartoon characters – this makes his work instantly recognisable in all its hypnotic variety.

18) Aurore de la Morinerie, based in France

It is very easy to see Aurore’s work when you click into Susie Bubble’s blog, yes, the top banner. His work is full of Zen, reminding me of Chinese link painting with a touch of elegance.

19) Raphael Vicenzi, Brussels, Belgium

Raphael’s work combines several mediums to portray striking, powerful themes in a really unique way. His work is dark, ironic, striking and creative. It mixes various mediums, such as digital art, doodles/sketches, painting and more.

20) Kareem Iliya, based in USA

Kareem Iliya started his fashion career working with Giorgio Armani, and from 1992 also freelanced as an illustrator. His images are hauntingly full of grace and mystery. In addition to being an illustrator, Kareem Iliya is also a menswear designer. These watercolor illustrations are so inspiring. Great color sense… great everything, really.

21) Monsieur Z, based in France

You should probably came across Monsieur Z’s works lately, his works are widely mentioned in many fashion illustration book and website. His long and thin characters, architectural forms, humor and elegance are now evolving on other media, like animation.

22) Dolceq, based in Rome, Italy

Dolceq is formed by  Massimillano and Sonia. DolceQ is a sexy lovely world where butterflies, hearts, stars and women live together in a minimal, erotic futuristic style. The pair work across a huge range of projects, from music videos, art shows, designer furniture through to designer toys.

23) Montse Bernal, Barcelona, Spain

Montse Bernal is from Barcelona, Spain originally. The artist uses a variety of materials, ranging from dry media to painting, to even digital and some animations. Montse graduated in fine arts by the University of Barcelona. Bernal also is specialized in illustration in ENSAD of Paris.

24) Silja Gotz, based in Madrid, Spain

Silja Goetz is working for some of the biggest names in publication and product. Nike, Vogue, Cosmo, and Nylon tout her work among others. From portraiture and product integration to her more pensive personal work, her illustrative style evokes emotion and warmth.

25) Nice Lopes, based in Sao Paulo , Brazil

Nice has a distinctive style: sharp color, digital, collage of pattern. And she just publish a 2010 calendar which I love it so much!

26) Sandra Suy, based in Barcelona, Spain

Sandra Suy  loves drawing people , especially beautiful women with beautiful dresses.

27) Victoria Ball, based in Gloucestershire, England

Victoria has produced artwork for a broad range of clients and markets both in the UK and Internationally. She continues to enjoy illustrating for magazines, merchandising, advertising and packaging. Her mixed media style is achieved by digitally combining, through the use of Adobe Photoshop, hand drawn and painted elements with photography and sourced pattern.

28) Francois Berthoud, based in New York, USA

Francois’s early work has been published by Vanity directed by Anna Piaggi, and then in Numero, The NewYorker, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine, Mixte, V magazine, Amica, Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italy, Vogue Nippon, Visionaire.
His work has been exhibited worldwide in solo and group shows and has appeared in many reference books. Francois Berthoud lives and works in Milan and New York.

29) Montana Forbes, USA

Montana Forbes is a self-taught artist with a Graphic Design (BA degree) background.

Her objective is simplicity with a unique perspective, sensitivity to form, line and an intrinsic sense of colour inherited from growing up between the USA, Southern Africa and the U.K. Her work is featured on numerous book covers, in magazine articles and art books world wide.

30) Susan Burghart, based in Seattle, USA

Susan Burghart comes from a graphic design background but also recently studied illustration in London. Susan’s style is a mix of retro art — deco, nouveau, pop, and general 20th century nostalgia, though her goal is to keep the work new and interesting at the same time. Susan’s work has been featured by R.E.D. (helmet line of Burton Snowboards), Spunky Clothing U.K., Worth Global Style Network (WGSN) and Computer Arts magazine.

A while ago, when I walked along some vintage store in Manchester, I found some vintage sewing pattern. They were mainly from the 60′s and 70′s. If sewing is the language of fashion, the pattern should be the books. It recorded different style according to time. Below, here are some free pattern resources you can find online:

BurdaStyle

Thanks smiffy for the update (20/12/09)

About Sewing

Craftandfabriclinks.com

Craftster Forum

Sewing Stuff

Otsukaya (大塚屋)

Free Patterns.com

Antique Pattern Library

AllCrafts

Babyclothes

Free Needle

Berroco

Crochet Pattern Central

Free Patterns Menu

Modern Sewing Patterns

Instuctables

All Free Crafts

Fitzpattern

SavvySeams.com

Are there any good free sites not in the list? The list will continue to update.

Eastern art has long been found in modern fashion, especially in some Haute Couture Collections (Dior and Valentino). The modern fashion trend is started in the West and when it meet the east, the culture mix together to form a unique and interesting style. Just like the trendies blending with the traditional. Here, I am not talking about the Kimono and Qi-Pao in the Eastern fashion, I want to focus on the art and painting from the East that influence the Western fashion world.

1. Chinese Pattern

Monotone is the main style in traditional Chinese painting, like the landscape ink painting, the blue decorative painting on china pot. It represent a Zen culture, a minimal style. The textile for the upper class is colorful though, with elegant embroidery.

Dragons are common in Chinese art as it represents the emperor. The dragon always come with cloud to show that it is flying in the sky. And landscape, flower, bird, fish and shrimp are also the usual topic.

And in traditional drawing, the perspective is fake 3 dimensional, flat but rich in content, it can be extended easily so the art is suitable to create textile.

Start from Left: Jean Paul Gaultier S08C, Vivienne Tam S07RTW, Valentino S08C, Gucci Resort10

Textile characteristic: detailed, vibrant, ink style, embroidered.

2. Japanese Pattern

Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art. It is more vibrant than those in China, and more crisp line, more “vector art” in modern terms. The symbol pattern represent some kind of honor in the Samurai’s armor.

Japanese art also don’t have a real 3D perspective, so it can be extended easily, like the painting on Ukiyo-e (meaning “floating world”), and which make it more easy to transform into textile.

Start from Left: Christian Dior S07C, Alexis Mabille AW10C, Basso and Brooke S09RTW, Armani Prive S09C

Textile characteristic: detailed, vibrant and colorful, vector style, embroidered.

3. Indian Pattern

Indian art can be classified into specific periods each reflecting certain religious, political and cultural developments. One can find many symbols in their culture as they are linked to spiritual states. The paintings is rich in details and gold foil are found in many of them. They are mainly for religious purpose.

Elephants are popular in Indian, as it was the chosen carriage for many gods in the legend. And a white elephant is special as there is a story about Buddha’s mother dreamed of a white elephant. And then the prophet of peace Gautam Buddha was born.

Start from Left: Kenzo S2009 RTW, Etro S2009 RTW, Dries Van Noten FW2008 RTW, Balenciaga FW2007 RTW

Textile characteristic: colourful, rich patterned and textured, contain symbol, light weight.

4. Islamic Pattern

Islamic art is not an art pertaining to religion only. The term “Islamic” refers not only to the religion, but to the rich and varied Islamic culture as well.

According to the Encarta “Islamic art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the influence of Sassanian art—the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences had an important effect on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles.”

There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of geometrical floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as the arabesque. The arabesque in Islamic art is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of Allah.

Start from Left: Chanel Resort10, Valentino S09 Couture, Christian Lacroix F2007 Couture, Matthew Williamson S2008 RTW

Textile characteristic: detailed, geometric patterned, embroidered, contain symbols.

Fashion photograph is the language of fashion. The designers talk to us using the fashion photograph. Without the help of the photographer, the fashion world will be silent, dead silent……. below are 30 photographers that are controlling the language of fashion todays.

1) Annie Leibovitz, USA

Annie Leibovitz’s powerful portrait photography has distinguished her above and beyond most of her peers for over thirty years. From 1970 to 1983, Leibovitz was the principal photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. She spearheaded the movement of music photography away from stage and studio portraiture to intimate, behind-the-scenes portrayals of musicians.

The first twenty years of her work has been collected in an extensive retrospective book and exhibition Photographs: Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990. Her recent book, Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990-2005, brings together her assignment and personal work, and is accompanied by an exhibition that opened at the Brooklyn Museum and is touring internationally. Her lifetime achievements have recently merited her a place in the acclaimed PBS documentary series American Masters, aired in January 2007.

2) Nick Knight, UK

Nick Knight is among the world’s most influential photographers as well as being Director & founder of SHOWstudio.com the fashion & art internet broadcasting channel.  On the 24th October 2006 Nick Knight was awarded the prestigious Moet Chandon Fashion Tribute for 2006, which he celebrated by throwing a masked ball at Horace Walpoles Gothic revival treasure, Strawberry Hill.

Knight’s work has been exhibited at such institutions as the Victoria & Albert Museum, Saatchi Gallery, the Photographers Gallery and Hayward Gallery and recently the Tate Modern.  He has produced a permanent installation, Plant Power, for the Natural History Museum in London.

3) Sølve Sundsbø, Norwegian

Fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo started his career, for a while it seemed as though he would get no further than the dole queue. “People would say to me, ‘I’m not sure I can hire you, I’m not sure what you’re doing. What is your style?’ I was mortified and thought I was never going to make a living as a photographer.”

The designer Tom Ford cannot speak highly enough of him. “Solve is a great talent in the fashion industry,” he says. “His photographs speak for themselves. They are powerful, beautiful, always fresh, and I am lucky to have worked with him over the past decade.”

Sundsbo’s portfolio reads like a who’s who of luxury designers – Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Gucci, Hermès, Bally and Armani. He has also branched out into short films, teaming up with Alexander McQueen to produce a piece for the Florence Biennale.

4) Michael Thompson,US

Michael Thompson was born and raised in Washington State, where he was first introduced to photography at his father’s small portrait studio.

An award-winning director of TV commercials, Michael has directed: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker (a winner of the 2006 FiFi Award for Best National Advertising Campaign-Television), Tiffany’s Frank Gehry Collection and a PSA for The American Ballet Theatre.

His recent exhibition, MICHAEL THOMPSON: 50 CUTS debuted at the Parco Gallery in Tokyo featuring a selection of 50 images from his first 10 years as a photographer. He is currently working on a second book.

5) Alexi Lubomirski, UK

Alexi grew up in Paris and London. His serious interest in photography developed whilst traveling in Peru during a gap year at college.His interest later shifted from social commentary to narrative based/fashion photography whilst studying his degree at the University of Brighton, in the UK. Introduced to Mario Testino whilst making the rounds in London with his university portfolio, Lubomirski soon joined him in Paris as his assistant.

He was later introduced to Harper’s Bazaar, again by Katie. He has been shooting fashion stories and celebrity covers for the magazine ever since, working with such fashion industry stalwarts as Brana Wolf.

6) Ruven Afanador, Columbian

Rather than basking in the spotlight after winning the coveted Trophee de la Mode award for Best Photographer last year, Ruven Afanador has been quietly working in the dark room, putting the finishing touches on his debut book of photographs, Torero (Edition Stemmle). Deeply personal and at times pointedly homoerotic, the photographs—all in laconic black and white detail—have their roots in Afanador’s recollections of a growing up in a small town just north of Bogotá, Colombia. In an auspicious photo session arranged by Joan Juliet Buck, former Editor-in-Chief of Paris Vogue, the conversation between the two visionaries veered to bullfighting and inspired in Afanador a fascination for the secret society of men with tradition-soaked, embroidered suits and the adoration of everyone.

7) Bela Borsodi, Austrian

Bela Borsodi’s surreal fashion imagery brings clothes and accessories to life. Through combining aspects of art, design and craft his work offers us fashion in 3-dimensions; at once caricature and vanguard of today’s most extrovert fashion sensibilities. The New York based artist and photographer has worked for the likes of Vogue, Wallpaper and Another Magazine, and fashion brands Baume & Mercer Watches, Hermes and Selfridges.

An in-depth interview on Bela Borsodi in PingMag.

8) Warren du preez & Nick thornton-jones, UK

A creative unit of Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones started in 1998. They have a studio in the East end of London, just off Brick Lane. Mainly working for music and fashion industries, both Nick and Warren are involved in all of their projects collaboratively which has established a distinct style. They have been highly acclaimed for their free form of creative output which ranges from photography to graphics.

9) Melodie Mcdaniel, USA

Melodie McDaniel works as a still photographer and director.  After extensive travel throughout Europe and Israel, including living on a Kibbutz, Melodie studied photography and was inspired to pursue documentary photography. She graduated in 1992 from the Art Center School of Design with a major in photography and a minor in fine art.

After a successful career with now defunct Satellite Films, Melodie signed with The Directors Bureau in 2002, heightening a roster of talent including Roman and Sofia Coppola. Since coming on board, Melodie has helmed spots for Chevy, Toyota, Vodafone, Zune and Nike.

10) Platon,  USA

Platon attended St. Martin’s School of Art, and after receiving his BA with honors in Graphic Design, he was then awarded an MA in photography and fine art at the Royal College of Art, where one of his professors and mentors was the late John Hind, the creative director of British Vogue. While still a student, he received British Vogue’s “Best up-and-coming Photographer” award in 1992.

In 2007 Platon photographed Russian Premier Vladimir Putin for Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year Cover. This image was awarded the coveted 1 st prize at 2008 World Press Photo Contest.

11) Phil Poynter, USA

Phil Poynters sweeping photographic skills echo in the spontaneity of his Louis Vuitton men’s advertising campaign, the teenage freedom in his shots for Alexander McQueen and in the classic elegance of the Prada ad campaign. He can revolutionise a brand image with his photography which is already a point of reference. Phil is a regular contributor to Dazed & Confused.

12) Rankin, UK

Photographer, publisher, and most recently film director, Rankin established his reputation when he launched Dazed & Confused with his business partner Jefferson Hack in 1991.

From his iconic shot of Kylie lying naked and prostrate, to the Queen smiling enigmatically, Rankin’s iconic, intimate portraiture style, and his mischievous eye have gained him a reputation as one of the world’s leading photographers.

In September 2007, Rankin held his debut American solo show in Los Angeles at the Fahey/Klein gallery, entitled ‘Eye Candy’.

13) Norman Jean Roy, USA

Few photographers’ careers have ascended skyward as meteorically as that of editorial and advertising photographer Norman Jean Roy. Named by PDN magazine in 1999 as one of the 30 most promising photographers under 30 years old, the now 31-year-old New York-based shooter is certainly fulfilling that confidence.

Marked by a style that seems deceptively casual, even impromptu at times, Roy often works his subjects with the experimental temperament of a jazz musician: improvising ideas and themes on the fly.

14) Thomas Schenk, USA

Thomas earned his BFA at the Philadelphia College of Art where he studied ceramics and print-making. Before discovering photography at the age of 26, he worked odd jobs and competed with his show horses. A regular contributor to Dutch Magazine, Schenk’s work also appears in Vogue, New York Times Magazine, Surface and Interview He now lives in New York City.

His fashion photographs are characterized by their utter modernity and edgy introspection. Thomas originally came to prominence through his memorable photographs of model Angela Lindwall for Harper’s Bazaar. He has worked at the highest levels of fashion photography ever since.

15) Max Vadukul, UK

Max Vadukul is a self taught British photographer, born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in London, whose images are recognized for their distinctive signature and creative originality.

Discovered by Yohji Yamamoto in 1984 while living in Paris, Max quickly gained praise as a brilliant image maker.

Today Max continues to work in New York City and has refocused his energy into creating powerful, original images for a select clientele. He resides with his wife Nicoletta Santoro, fashion editor at Italian Vogue, and their two children.

16) Diego Uchitel, Argentinean

Argentinean born photographer Diego Uchitel moved from Buenos Aires to the United States after high school to attend film school and eventually found his true calling. He has been photographing the world’s most beautiful subjects for twenty years. Uchitel is renowned for his elegantly arresting photographs. His work is often described as less photographic and more painterly.

Uchitel’s subjects include David Bowie, Lou Reed, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Diane Von Furstenberg. He has also given a dose of elegance to his advertising clients, which include Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Warner Brothers, Nike, Levi’s and Microsoft.

17) Yelena Yemchuk, Ukranian

Yelena Yemchuk is a professional photographer, painter and film director, best known for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when Yelena was in her early teens.

Yemchuk  handled art direction for the Adore album and its related singles. Her photographs also appear in the “Zero” EP, the The Aeroplane Flies High box set, and the Rotten Apples compilation.

Throughout 2004, Corgan mentioned her frequently in his blog, and she also provided the cover art for his book Blinking with Fists.

18) Richard Burbridge, UK

Richard Burbridge’s technically ambitious photography explores the alchemical medium of photography. Transforming his subjects — fashion, portraiture, beauty, and still life photography — Burbridge subverts the expected. His inventive editorial work appears in Another Magazine, Self-Service, Italian Vogue, i-D and V. His still life and beauty photography, which can be seen in campaigns for MAC, Chaumet, Givenchy, Hermes and Louis Vuitton Eyewear, is elegantly experimental and meticulous. Burbridge’s portraits of the leading cultural figures of art, literature, and entertainment also carry his distinct photographic style.

19) Sebastian Faena, USA

Photographer Sebastian Faena made his powerful editorial debut in V magazine with a twenty-page story early last year. He has since established himself in New York as a unique talent, distinctly capturing the top female faces in the industry today including Naomi Campbell, Amber Valletta, Natalia Vodianova, Linda Evangelista, Doutzen Kroes and Agyness Deyn, among others.

Faena received accolades for his feature film, La Mujer Rota (The Woman Turns), which was released to both controversy and acclaim in his native Buenos Aires in the Fall of 2007.

20) Nathaniel Goldberg, French

Goldberg was born and educated in France and undertook his photography apprenticeship in New York. His distinctive flair for fashion image-making gained recognition in the late 1990s, attracting a prestigious range of editorial and advertising clients, and a film project for Paco Rabanne. Goldberg is currently working on an independent project in Alaska which includes portraits and landscapes.

Nathaniel Goldberg’s sophisticated approach to fashion and beauty photography is regularly featured in Italian and Japanese Vogue, GQ and Harper’s Bazaar.

21) Jamie Isaia, USA

Jamie Isaia evokes mood and atmosphere in a color-saturated, expressive photographic style that suggests dream-like, otherworldly scenarios. Though her images are thoughtfully scripted, they also contain unexpected and spontaneous elements, resulting in a rich blend of performance and a painterly photographic style.

In 2008 Isaia was nominated for the Discovery Award at the Recontres d’Arles with guest curator Christian Lacroix by Caroline Issa and Masoud Golsorkhi of Tank Magazine. She traveled to Spain to teach a seminar at Madrid’s international photography festival, PHotoEspaña.
Most recently Jamie completed her second short film for Swarovski, which will be included in the Birds Eye View Film Festival in London this year.

22) Craig McDean, UK

Craig McDean is a photographer and filmmaker who is renowned for his striking fashion imagery and portraiture. Having discovered photography by taking pictures of his rocker friends in the North of England, McDean moved to London, where he assisted before striking out on his own with assignments for i-D and The Face. In 2004, his second book, Lifescapes, was published by Steidl/Dangin. McDean currently lives in New York, and has photographed campaigns for Dior, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Estee Lauder, and Calvin Klein. He regularly contributes to a range of international fashion publications including W, American, French, British and Italian Vogue, and Another Magazine. He is a 2008 recipient of the ICP Infinity Award.

23) Steven Meisel, USA

Steven Meisel is fashion’s pre-eminent image-maker — prolific and innovative — visualizing the trends of every fashion season since the 1980s.
Like all truly great image-makers in fashion’s pantheon, Meisel not only depicts fashion, he defines it, and gives it cultural resonance. His influences and inspirations are varied, culled from design, architecture, art, cinema, and literature. Meisel has also portrayed our leading actresses and entertainers, defining the relationships between celebrity and fashion in the process. Most notably, Meisel collaborated with Madonna to create their notorious book Sex (1992).

As the primary photographer for American and Italian Vogue, each season, he has also created some of fashion’s most memorable campaigns for Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Mulberry, Lanvin, and Versace.

24) Perry Ogden, UK

Perry Ogden‘s lush imagery creates evocative, enduring narratives. Ogden’s sense of the rural and the remote is elegantly entwined with a deep appreciation of history and cultural heritage — particularly in his stunning photography in his homeland of Ireland. His photographs have been featured in Italian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, W, and Arena, and campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Chloé, Calvin Klein, and Bergdorf Goodman.

Ogden has also created long-term independent photo projects including Pony Kids (1999) — a portrayal of bareback horse riding culture among Irish youth. Ogden’s first feature film Pavee Lackeen (The Traveller Girl) was screened at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival.

25) Carter Smith, USA

Carter Smith‘s fashion and portrait photography has a disarming charm. Smith has created campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, TSE, DKNY, Tiffany & Co., Levi’s, Clarins, and Lancôme. His editorials appear in American, British, Italian, and Teen Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Homme, Allure, GQ and The New York Times Magazine.

Smith has also developed a keen sense for filmmaking in projects for Tommy Hilfiger Fragrance, Lancôme, Lacoste, Kohl’s, and DKNY. He has directed music videos and his film projects are currently represented by Park Pictures. Smith recently completed his first feature length film, The Ruins, a story adapted from the Scott Smith novel of the same name.

26) Ellen von Unwerth, Germany

Ellen von Unwerth‘s work offers a distinctly sexual and playful version of fashion and beauty photography. In addition to her career as fashion photographer, filmmaker, and video director, her work has been collected in numerous books and two photo-novellas. Von Unwerth’s first book, Snaps, was published in 1994 followed by Wicked (1998), Couples (1999) and Omahyra &Boyd (2005).

After a decade as a fashion model, von Unwerth brought a first-hand knowledge of the kinetic energy of fashion photo shoots to the creation of her own photographs. Her sensual campaigns for Guess in the early 1990s launched von Unwerth’s commercial career, and subsequently she has created campaigns for Victoria’s Secret, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, Baccarat, Bebe, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, H&M, Diesel, Chanel, Miu Miu and Blumarine as well as a series of publicity advertisements for HBO’s Sex and the City.

27) Grey Williams, UK

Williams began photo work as a photojournalist and has documented regions at the heights of their troubles in Burma, Sierra Leone, and Chechnya. His commitment to the role of photography in social change includes his ongoing work for the international aid agency OxFam.

Williams recently expanded his celebrity repertoire to include fashion editorial for Vogue Italia and fashion advertising for clients such as Dunhill, Escada, Tommy Hilfiger and Dior. Other advertising campaigns include Omega, Heineken, Sony Pictures and Disney. In 2008, Williams wrote and directed his first short film for the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.

28) David Vasiljevic, Australian

David Vasiljevic is a graduate of the Academie des Beaux Art in Brussels. From oil painting he later brought his vision to photography.

He spends his time between new york, london and paris, contributing to American and Chinese Vogue as well as I-D, just to name few.

He has collaborated with biggest names in styling and creative direction.

His advertising clients include some of the leading brands in the fashion industry such as Stella Mc Cartney, Swarovski, Paule Ka, Pantene, Givenchy Perfume, H&M, Armani jeans, Levi’s etc.

29) Ben Hassett, French

Ben is a photographer and filmmaker who lives and works in Paris. He studied Fine Art in England, and began his career in landscape and art photography. His life and work have recently been profiled in ‘The British Journal of Photography’ and in ‘Playboy’. A regular contributor to Vogue magazines worldwide, including French, German and Japanese, he is best known for his striking and sometimes disturbing images of beauty. German Vogue recently labeled him “the Penn of his generation.”

Clients include Dior, L’Oreal, Givenchy, Clarins and Rimmel. 2008 also saw his directorial debut for Chanel, creating his first commercial.

30) Jonathan Leder, USA

Jonathan Leder was born and raised in New York City during the 1970′s. He started his career by assisting superstar photographer Steven Klein.

As the digital camera revolutionized the photography world, Jonathan remained faithful to his 35mm and old-school Polaroid (remember those?). With a sharp eye and a distinct indie style, Jonathan is able to capture these absolutely amazing, dreamy shots.

It is very hard to cover all the greatest in one post, so more to come in Part 2..

The fashion illustration is an unique art. You need to strike a balance between the whole drawing and the details of the garment. This is why it is very hard to master. Below, we have 30 illustrators you can drawn inspiration from. — PART 2 (updated 23 Mar)

1) Antonio lopez, 1943-1987, New York, USA

Antonio Lopez is the Picasso of fashion illustration. He captured the pulse of style from the 60s to the 80s, and is still revered as the most inspiring illustrator by today’s practitioners. He worked with a variety of materials including pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, watercolor and polaroid film. His work appeared frequently in Vogue, Harper’s bazzar, Elle.

2) David downtown, British

David downtown illustrations are interesting, one side its kinda trash and the other side its more sweet with nice curves! He also have a bunch of really cool celebrity portrait.

3) ISAO Yajima, Japanese

ISAO Yajima is the most famous Japanese fashion illustrator in the past decades.

4) Tony Viramonte, 1960~1988, Los Angeles, USA

He worked for magazines and fashion houses in Italy, France and Japan. He listed among his influences Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, Degas, Matisse, Egon Schiele, Picasso, Fellini and Tom of Finland.

5) Stephen Stipelman

6) Joe Eula, 1925 – 2004, Norwalk, Conn.

Joe Eula, an illustrator who caught the riotous curves of fashion from Dior’s New Look in the 1940′s until the end of Saint Laurent’s reign.

7) Roger Duncan, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA

There was a shape and feeling in Duncan’s dynamic brushstrokes and glowing gouache colours, which, coupled with his ability to capture a likeness in just a few lines, were much appreciated by American Vogue. They regularly commissioned from him both fashion drawings and portraits of elegantly dressed socialites.

8) Laura Laine, Finnish

Laura Laine style did what she feel like at the moment. Her work is so hauntingly beautiful and precise, especially gorgeous hair flow to life, flounce and fancy looks best when its swirly and swiveled, drawn in pencil by the most talented hand.

9) Cedric Rivrain, French

Cedric does a lot of fashion illustrations and I think he might have a crush on Kate Moss. I love the very classic drawing style combined with touches of colour.

10) Audria Brumberg

Cultivated by the creative atmosphere of her childhood, Audria Brumberg has grown to develop her own aesthetic expression and style within the art world.

11) Rene Gruau, 1909 – 2004, Italian

Mr. Gruau, whose posters often echoed both classical Japanese drawings and Toulouse-Lautrec’s sketches of fin de siècle Paris night life, was perhaps best known for creating the marketing images for Miss Dior perfume and for Rouge Baiser lipstick. But in everything he did, he evoked the glamour and style of the world of high fashion.

12) Stina Persson, Sweden

Stina Persson has lived, studied and worked in Tokyo, New York, Florence and Lund, Sweden, where she was born. She says her illustration style is basically about “finding the right balance between the edgy and the elegant the raw and the beautiful.” To achieve this, she uses ink, watercolor and gouache, as well as Mexican cut paper (used at ceremonies and festivals).

13) Sarah Hankinson, Melbourne

Melbourne Illustrator Sarah Hankinson creates feminine yet striking works which play off broken lines and occasional splashes of colour.

14) Johnny Cheuk, Hong Kong

Johnny usually blends computer graphics with watercolor, pen and ink to explore creative possibilities. His works have been published in various magazines, books, websites and exhibitions. This website showcases his works for clients and artworks for personal interest.

15) Jerry Seguin, Seattle, USA

Jerry uses both hand and digital techniques, and uses a variety of materials including watercolors, pencil, he also has formal training in art and fashion.

16) Jacqueline Bissett, UK

Freelancing as a fashion illustrator since leaving Epsom College in the 1980s, Jacqueline began working with many magazines along with jobs for design consultancies and forecasting companies.

17) Sarah Beetson, Toronto, Canada

Sarah graduated in 2002 from Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall UK, and won the Pentland Prize for Fine Art that same year. She spent the next 4 years in London working in fashion, illustration and design in-house at Yellowdoor, Pop and The Face magazines.

18) Zoe More Oferrall, NY, USA

Zoe’s illustrations are heavily pen and ink based, whilst incorporating photography and screen-printing through much of her work.

19) Akari Inoguchi, Japanese

Akari Inoguchi is a graphic designer and visual artist working in a diverse range of media. She contributes illustrations to fashion magazines, television commercials, product packages and labels, t-shirts, and textile designs.

20) Annabelle Verhoye, German

Annabelle’s works seeks to create imagery on multiple dimensions that is at once true to its subject’s form, yet with an additional layer of interpretation. The resulting effect is one of elucidating both the scene’s objective nature as well as its inner essence and the mood it organically creates.

21) Petra Dufkova, UK

Petra dufkova illustrations are sketchy, inky messy & delicate!!!

22) Gary Fernandez, Madrid, Spain

Fernández’s intricate, retro-esque illustrations marry a liquid stroke with a rigid tension, which in turn projects an underlying seething mood and latent danger. He believes in the idea of illustration as a tool for showing the hidden beautiful side of the ordinary things.

23) Nadia Flower, New Zealand

Combining hand-drawn and computer-based imagery, Nadia works happily across a variety of visual mediums, from fine art painting to fashion and textile, as well as pure illustration for the editorial and advertising markets.

24) Masha Karpushina, London, UK

Although most of her drawings are black and white, Masha’s inspiration is drawn very much from the vast colours of the world around her.

25) Adam Lowe, UK

Adam’s illustration plays with and within the rarefied space that is fashions stylistic trump card, working the push/pull friction of surface and depth, control and impulse, line and shape, romance and sex.

26) Cecilia Carlstedt, Swedish

Cecilia has a tremendous style to her illustrations and has been commissioned by a solid list of clients, including New York Times, H&M, Bloomingdale, and Swarovski.

27) Monsieur Qui, French

Monsieur Qui or in English Mister Who is French illustrator / street Artist. His fashion illustrations are beautiful, as you can see in a lot of his drawings, Mr Qui likes to incorporate his hand made typography.

28) Sophie Griotto, French

Sophie’s focus is at the contemporary urban woman, and researches her accesories and attitude, which makes her personality a lot more original. Even though she doesn’t use much lines, Sophie compensates using lots of colours in her designs, what makes her work really stunning and vivid.

29) Peter Winnett, Canada

He’s been commissioned by DKNY and L’Oreal, to name a few and his work oozes raw sexuality with laid back playfulness.  With a use of his pen and some watercolors, Peter creates a fantasy world of gorgeously dangerous women.

30) Tanya Ling, Calcutta

Ling studied Fashion Design and Textiles at St Martins School of Art and after graduating in 1989 moved to Paris to work as a designer for Dorothee Bis and then for Christian Lacroix.

More to be in Part 2….