Vogue headed back to the drawing board this January as all eight of its Vogue Italia covers were illustrated.

Created to highlight the heavy toll on resources that one single magazine creates, Vogue editor Emanuele Farneti hopes that this photo-free issue will signify a conscious pivot to ‘intellectual honesty’, just one of the aspects pledged to by Condé Nast’s “Vogue Values”.

What is ‘intellectual honesty?’ In this case, it is the admission from Vogue that ‘there is a significant environmental impact associated with publishing a fashion magazine’. For just one issue, Farneti explains that the process involves “About 20 flights and a dozen or so train journeys. Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights switched on for at least ten hours nonstop, partly powered by gasoline-fuelled generators. Food waste from the catering services. Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones, cameras …”

In 2019 150 Brands Have Joined Emmanuel Macron’s “Fashion Pact” to Make the Fashion Industry More Sustainable, and just last week Extinction Rebellion activist Sara Arnold commented, “We aren’t going to fight this problem unless there is complete systemic change, and that happens through targeting the government, not through individual actions alone.”

So, less editorials are great news for the environment, but is it just a one off?  

Co-founder of Gray M.C.A (Modern and Contemporary Art), Connie Gray predicted back in 2018 that ‘we are going to see more and more fashion illustration on the pages of fashion magazines and newspapers.’ Her reasoning?

‘Twenty years ago, you saw almost no fashion illustration, but this is gradually changing as editors are looking for something fresh to draw the eye. There are some extraordinarily talented illustrators working at the moment that are bringing it back into fashion in a big way.’

This certainly resonates. In an era of 24-hour screen time, Tik Tok, and fake news, these free penned, organic and surreal works offer an oasis of calm from the endless scroll of hyperbole.

Perhaps it is poignant that as we enter a new era of ‘The Twenties’ this authentic mode of storytelling is once again relevant.  

Gen Z, for whom individual identity is key, are demanding personalised modes of self-expression. Major fashion houses now use digital supermodels, while a new breed of artificial intelligence Instagram 'influencers'  such as Miquela (@liliquela), are followed by millions. These bloggers are just like any other with meticulously planned posts, and a picture-perfect face - with the one key difference being that it is entirely digitally rendered. In fact, one of the Vogue covers has been done by Yoshitaka Amano, famed for his work on the Final Fantasy Series. Unlike a pixel real shoot, his interpretation of model Lindsey Wixson, wearing Gucci is whimsical, and mysterious, alluring the reader into an alternate state.  

Fashion illustrator Hayden Williams collaborated late last year with fashion giant Missguided, in a one of a kind role reversal collection showcasing his unique nineties styling, and pouting, fierce women.

The breadcrumb trail of this trend for illustration has also been fed during Edward Enninful’s tenure as editor-in-chief of British Vogue. Every month, when a new Vogue cover is unveiled on Instagram, artists from around the world reimagine the portrait in their own crayoned, penned and oiled glory. The Instagram fame of #vogueillustration was celebrated with a few favourites from #NewVogue’s first year.

As Henri Matisse stated, ‘Creativity takes courage ’. Thanks to Vogue Italia for taking a risk, and making a small step to a big change.

What are you going to challenge creatively this month ..?

Laters lovers,

Sarah Denise xx

With thanks to my sources:

http://www.anahard.com/new-gallery-98/

https://jiacollection.com/blogs/news/39453121-the-comeback-of-fashion-illustration-and-the-top-new-illustrators-of-today?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=Social

https://www.vogue.com/article/why-fashion-illustration-matters-in-the-digital-age

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sarahdenisestudio/i-l-l-u-s-t-r-a-t-e/ https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/phaidon-fashion-book-fashion-illustrators-53980

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/01/9132294/vogue-italia-january-2020-covers -

https://www.vogue.com/article/why-fashion-illustration-matters-in-the-digital-age

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0XrNqnUf7/

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a22722480/how-artificial-intelligence-models-are-taking-over-your-instagram-feed/

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jan/03/vogue-italia-drops-photoshoots-from-january-issue -

https://www.instagram.com/hayden_williams/?hl=en -

https://www.haydenwilliamsofficial.com/

https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/illustration/how-make-climate-change-colouring-book-for-world-leaders/

https://www.euronews.com/living/2018/09/23/a-fashion-illustration-renaissance

https://jiacollection.com/blogs/news/39453121-the-comeback-of-fashion-illustration-and-the-top-new-illustrators-of-today

https://www.vogue.com/article/why-fashion-illustration-matters-in-the-digital-age

https://www.vogue.com/article/fashion-pact-sustainability-g7-summit-emmanuel-macron

https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/vogue-september-issue-cover-photos-history

https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/december-2018-british-vogue-covered-illustrated