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Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration

January 19, 2011 by cheriecity

Writer, photographer and activist Amelia Gregory has released her second book – Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Featuring the Very Best in Ethical Fashion Design.

A new Amelia print publication is always exciting, as you can expect a visual wonderland of new design talent, excellent writing and innovative illustration all packed into a beautifully crafted collector’s volume, made with love.

Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration explores the work of 44 leading and emerging ethical fashion designers and features exquisite fashion drawing from 30 contributing illustrators.

Initiatives like Estethica and e-commerce site Young British Designers have given a platform for London’s ethical designers and with ACOFI, you can delve further into the thought process behind their brands and collection.

Amelia quizzes the designers on what it means to be a sustainable brand: what is ecoluxury? Why use organic fabric? How do you balance fair trade and maintain profit?

The list of ethical designers interviewed includes: Ada Zandition, Minna, Prophetik, Goodone, Emesha, Junky Styling, Christopher Raeburn, Edun, Nina Dolcetti, Henrietta Ludgate, Lu Flux and many more…

Each designer profile has been wonderfully illustrated by emerging illustrators, who were enlisted through an open brief.

ACOFI is a covetable coffee table book that of course, has been ethically produced and features a pearlised cover designed by Arizona-based artist, Andrea Peterson.

A bit about Amelia’s Magazine…

Amelia’s Magazine has always taken an alternative approach to publishing throughout its 10 issue lifetime and as a student, I was completely in awe of a magazine with a cover embellished with Swarovksi Crystals!

In 2008, Amelia’s Magazine went digital and massively upped its readership while continuing the creative content of the magazine.

This was followed with the publication of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, featuring a creative take on renewable technologies to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration leads on from the ethical questions raised in the Anthology and a resource you’ll want to keep as the featured designers expand their labels.

Buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration online for a reduced price and receive 12 unique Amelia’s Magazine postcards

You can also buy it with Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration and save £10.

For more info and a preview of ACOFI, visit www.ameliasmagazine.com

Art, Beauty

Clinique & Daisy de Villeneuve Kiss It Better

January 15, 2011 by cheriecity

Clinique has teamed up with London-born illustrator, designer and writer, Daisy de Villeneuve to produce a limited edition triptych of prints in support of the Kiss It Better appeal – raising money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer.

The trio of illustrations are numbered and signed by Daisy and reflect her unique interpretation of the Kiss It Better appeal.

Daisy de Villeneuve has exhibited her felt-tip illustrations of kooky misfits and whimsical accessories all over the world and her many collaborations include a homeware range for TOPSHOP, a Christmas window display for Browns Focus, a set of candles for Liberty and most recently, textile design for Zac Posen’s Z Spoke SS11 collection.

In support of the Kiss It Better appeal, Clinique has also created a limited edition new Smoothie Kisses Lip Gloss Set (£22.50), featuring four Vitamin C Lip Smoothie Antioxidant Lip Colours.

Juicy shades include Pink Me Up, Goodness Grapecious, Nude-tricious and Mango-thon – all neatly packed in a bold floral pink bag.

The Smoothie Kisses Lip Gloss Set will be sold exclusively in House of Fraser stores nationwide during the month of February with £4 going to the Kiss It Better Appeal (£2 from Clinique and £2 from House of Fraser).

A £2 donation will also apply to all Clinique lipsticks or lip glosses sold at House of Fraser stores nationwide, throughout February 2011. (£1 from Clinique and £1 from House of Fraser).

100% of the sale of the Kiss It Better by Daisy de Villeneuve prints will go to the Kiss It Better appeal, part of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

The print will be available throughout the month of February at the following outlets: www.clinique.co.uk & www.gosh.org/shop

Art, Designers, Events, Exhibitions, Fashion, Guest posts, London

Dior Illustrated: René Gruau and the Line of Beauty

November 14, 2010 by cheriecity

Coralie Aude Grassin explores the elegant world of Christian Dior through the illustration of René Gruau at the private view at Somerset House…

Any woman will gasp at the name. We are talking haute-couture, glamour and chic. Dresses so beautifully cut they seem unreal, as if they had been sewn on the body – the essence of femininity.

To learn a little more about this magic, rush to the Somerset House’s retrospective of René Gruau, Dior’s iconic illustrator.

The two artists met in 1936, when they were both working in the fashion department of le Figaro.

They shared the same thoughts, the same visions: a friendship that also led to a fruitful collaboration of 50 years…

When Dior launched the New Look in 1947, there was no hesitation: Gruau was the one to illustrate it and he would have carte blanche.

Together they defined an elegant woman – radiant, clothes likes flower petals around her, mysterious, the femme fatale.

The war had just ended, the public now focusing on a joie de vivre. Ideal timing for a new style! Inspired by Japanese calligraphy, Gruau designs have a sophisticated and feline air about them.

In just a few lines, he creates a whole story and you could spend hours imagining the life of his characters.

He succeeds in capturing details: the position of a curl, the eyebrow innocently raised in a silent question, the half smile, the languid pose.

For Diorama, he paints a veil and gloves on a chair – the movement is such you could swear the woman was there a second ago, her perfume still lingering in the room.

So intense you feel you could step in the picture and grab those accessories…

My favourite part definitely is the male image he created. Imagine the readers’ shock when they opened their Figaro, looked at the Eau Sauvage ad and saw…black slippers, a pair of hairy legs, and a white bathrobe cut at the waist!

What a revolution: sexy yet relaxed. Although it was controversial at the time, it did prove a real success and more humoristic versions followed.

When Dior died in 1957, Gruau continued to work on the perfumes ads until the late 1980s – an unequalled era which inspired so many other creators: daring, sophisticated and timeless.

Even 50 years down the line, each piece remains as powerful. Magnifique!

Dior Illustrated: René Gruau and the Line of Beauty runs until 9 January 2011 at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Photos by Coralie Aude Grassin