Skirts illustrated

Financial Times (November 8 2008)

Last winter, as he was planning his 2009 cruise collection, Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs decided he needed a change. Jacobs, who is known for a certain unpredictability in his style, often needs a change but this one was more radical than usual. Jacobs decided it wasn’t just the clothes that needed something new but the whole concept of the collection, including its marketing. So he threw out photography and brought in illustration, specifically the illustrator Tanya Ling, whom he commissioned to design the textile prints for the 2009 cruise collection, as well as the advertising campaign.

“The collection needed a painterly feeling to it. We don’t have an in-house textile designer and were thinking about who could we commission, and Tanya seemed perfect,” says Peter Copping, head of women’s wear at Louis Vuitton. “It was wonderful for her to work on both the collection and the press shots. To commission the same illustrator to create both is fascinating.”

Jacobs has always been something of a bellwether for a new fashion trend, and this time proved no exception. Others have followed suit. Designer Betty Jackson is set to collaborate with illustrators on the in-store graphics to promote her “black collection” for Debenhams in March; Fenwick’s current “VIP” campaign is portrayed through the delicate line of fashion illustrator David Downton, who will also illustrate their follow-on campaign next spring; and Matches boutique is working with artist Natasha Law on a site-specific installation for their Marylebone store, as well as on products such as silk scarves, all of which will launch this month.
Consequently, in spite of the fact that digital cameras have made photography simpler and more immediate than ever before – or indeed, perhaps precisely because of that – illustration, that most old-fashioned of the fashion arts, is having a moment.

“The fashion world is such that everybody has to have a different angle,” says William Ling, founder of London’s Fashion Illustration Gallery. “They need to have stories that add value to their outfits and illustration brings that different feel, whether to an ad campaign, a carrier bag or a textile design.” Ling set up the gallery in March 2007 to give fashion illustrators a platform from which to sell and exhibit their work. In the same vein, David Downton launched the annual fashion illustration magazine Pourquoi Pas? (available online and at the Victoria & Albert museum) in the summer of 2007.

The interest in fashion illustration began after the first world war, when magazines such as Vogue were dominated by the fluid lines and painterly styles of illustrators such as Cecil Beaton and RR Bouche. But illustration was swiftly replaced with photography, until a minor renaissance in the 1980s, when companies such as Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys started to commission artists to create illustrated campaigns.

Tom Chapman, founder of Matches, says: “We’ve always been interested in illustration as an art form to convey the feeling of our business. It is important to keep our clients stimulated.” His collaboration with Natasha Law will combine paintings and limited-edition prints with the boutique’s products. Such contemporary collaborations are a useful way for stores to stay ahead of the game, by using a colour palette that reflects the next season’s trends.

Mary Flack, Fenwick’s head of press, explains: “Fenwick used fashion illustration in the 1950s and 1960s before the vogue for photography swept in. Six years ago we felt it was the right time to return to illustration, and stand out from a sea of photography. David [Downton] was the only choice. His unique and timeless style has great impact, and exactly the right chemistry with Fenwick. He instinctively knows how to translate a frock or face into a beautiful piece of art that also sells the look.”

Louis Vuitton’s Peter Copping, meanwhile, has been inspired by the change in mood: “Photography is an important way to communicate fashion but it can be characterless and can only record what is there. It is interesting to collaborate with an illustrator who can add so much more.”
Downton agrees: “It might be the era of photography but there has never been a better time to be an illustrator.”