How to be a fashion illustrator
So how to be a fashion illustrator? Being a fashion illustrator is absolutely awesome and exciting! Your life becomes part of a dreamy and beauty world that makes your days so inspiring and fashionable! This is an amazing question that I received this week for our Q&A Wednesdays.
Hi Daria, my name is Liona, I am from Florence, Italy and I am very passionate about fashion. I also really like drawing and my question for you is how to be a fashion illustrators? I would like to combine my love for fashion and love for illustration. Thank you very much! Grazie!
Watch on youtube how to be a fashion illustrator and subscribe to my youtube channel.
So how to be a fashion illustrator? I am sure that you are a big fan of fashion since you want to work in this field and this is exciting because by being fashion illustrator you get to see all the behind the curtains events and shows! It’s a beautiful illustration career and I would recommend it to anyone interested in both fashion and drawing.
First of all, I would suggest you to find fashion designers that you love and that inspire you. I am sure that you have a list of fashion designers that really make your creative juices flow! Collect images of fashionable runaway shows that inspire you, that give you awesome ideas for your illustrations. You will get a lot of inspiration and will learn how to be a fashion illustrator very fast if you keep your inspiration coming.
So find those designers, is it haute couture fashion that you like? is it something over the top or something more classy? you have to understand it for yourself.
It’s very important to know what style of fashion attracts you because fashion is a huge world and if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t get anywhere. So start by defining a style for your fashion drawings. Once you have a style and you know what designers inspire you? You are half way to know how to be a fashion illustrator! Now you need to choose your target, who is your ideal fashion client? There are so many fashion niches in the world that it’s important to narrow down and understand where would you like to work. Do your research, find out different fashion houses, agencies, magazines, etc. Fashion illustrators are very on demand and if you know where you want to work, it’s a big plus to you because most of fashion illustrators don’t have a client or target in mind. This makes it harder for them to find fashion illustration jobs.
How to be a fashion illustrator for fashion in house? First of all, research different fashion in house brands and inquire if they are currently looking for a fashion illustrator or not. You can always ask to be a freelance illustrator for them.
Then you should create a porfolio using inspiring design collections of designers you admire. Create something unique and special, don’t just draw illustrations that all look the same. Create something awesome and trendy! don’t forget that you need to stand out!
So how to be a fashion illustrator? Now you know already a few great tips, start with those and then create a fashionable presentation of your portfolio. It has to look sexy and fancy because fashion people pay a lot of attention to details. Your presentation of your fashion illustrations has to be irresistible to them.
Any other tips on how to be a fashion illustrator? Of course! :-) You have to attend fashion shows and always follow fashion trends. It’s very important to always keep yourself updated about the latest fashion content coming out and keep your fashion illustration portfolio trendy.
See Daria’s official illustration portfolio.