Icons of fashion illustration

Last night’s preview of the Fashion Illustration Gallery’s new exhibition in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum certainly had the curiosity factor. White gloved gallery assistants added an air of mystery and allure, as they presided over boxes of drawings chosen by Abraham Thomas, Curator of Designs at the V and A.












The works on display (by appointment until 26th March) are from a mix of established artists and emerging contemporary talent. Fashion illustrators featured include Richard Gray, David Downton, Gladys Perint Palmer and Barbara Hulanicki. The styles vary enormously from Daisy de Villeneuve’s childlike sketches to Jason Brooks’ clean commercial lines.




















I particularly like the retro, painterly style employed by David Downton, Tanya Ling and Julie Verhoeven.





















And Hiroshi Tanabe uses silver and gold on his drawings to stunning effect.

Last night, there was something of the magician’s sleight of hand about the presentation of Marko Matysik’s fashion scrapbook (below).













The works selected for the show will become part of the V and A’s permanent collection and will also be featured in a forthcoming book called Illustrating Fashion. Talking of which, we’ve some fascinating out of print books on fashion illustration arriving at ShopCurious shortly - so do keep an eye on the website for exciting new additions…

Will you?