CLOTH came across this gem first spotted by TrendLand just over a year ago and fell head over heels in love with this modern take on fashion illustrations by Connie Lim. There is something so authentic and pure about putting pen to paper during the design process, that it is refreshing to see fashion illustrations highlighted in an unconventional way. Lucky enough to have been taught the techniques of fashion illustration by Nancy Riegelman when in attendance at FIDM, CLOTH learned straight from a true artisan amidst the 1st edition release of her book, 9 Heads. While the foundation of the art form can be learned, it takes individual style to make it your own. Connie Lim does just that and makes us all want to double up and play the odds.

A favorite from the CLOTH Library: 100 years of Fashion Illustration by Cally Blackman

From Cecil Beaton to Georges Lapepe, Fashion Illustration has been around for nearly 500 years. With the need to translate an idea or image into a garment, there is an undeniable need for fashion illustration. Representing the design of a garment, fashion illustration takes the realm of purpose and elevates it to a visually stimulating form of art. Said to be a visual luxury, it is a wonder why the art form once part of the mainstream conscious is now solely perpetuated by design houses and individual designers.

The decline of fashion illustration began in the late 1930s when Vogue began to replace its celebrated illustrated covers with photographic images. Laird Borrelli, author of Fashion Illustration Now states,“Fashion Illustration has gone from being one of the sole means of fashion communication to having a very minor role. The first photographic cover of Vogue was a watershed in the history of fashion illustration and a watershed mark of its decline. Photographs, no matter how altered or retouched, will always have some association with reality and by association truth. I like to think of them (Fashion Illustrations) as prose poems and having more fictional narratives. They are more obviously filtered through an individual vision than photos. Illustration lives on, but in the position of a poor relative“