Fashion illustrations can be made into fashion plate, but a fashion plate is not itself an original work of illustration. Illustration lives on, but in the position of a poor relative to the fashion., įashion illustration differs from the fashion plate in that a fashion plate is a reproduction of an image, such as a drawing or photograph, for a magazine or book. They are more obviously filtered through an individual vision than photos.

I like to think of them as prose poems and having more fictional narratives. Photographs, no matter how altered or retouched, will always have some association with reality and by association truth.

The first photographic cover of Vogue was a watershed in the history of fashion illustration and a watershed mark of its decline. Laird Borrelli, author of Fashion Illustration Now states,įashion Illustration has gone from being one of the sole means of fashion communication to having a very minor role. This was a major turning point in the fashion industry. More recently, there has been a decline of fashion illustration from the late 1930s when Vogue began to replace its celebrated illustrated covers with photographic images. Fashion illustration is said to be a visual luxury. The majority of fashion illustrations were created to be seen at a close range, often requiring the illustrator to have an eye for detail. Not only do fashion illustrations show a representation or design of a garment but they also serve as a form of art. Ever since clothes have existed, there has been a need to translate an idea or image into a visual representation. Fashion sketching plays a major role in designing to preview and visualize designs before sewing actual clothing.įashion illustration has been around for nearly 500 years. It is mainly used by fashion designers to brainstorm their ideas on paper or digitally. George Barbier fashion plate titled La Belle Dame sans Merci, plate 47, from Gazette du Bon Ton, 1921, issue 6įashion Illustration is the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing and painting and also known as Fashion sketching.

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Female body sketch for tailoring