Watercolor and Fashion Innovation

Fashion Designers are the key players of the Fashion Industry. They keep the fashion world exciting and they are consistently innovative. Designers are true artists who visualize thoughts in their minds and bring them to life so you and I can walk the streets and look fabulous! When designers first imagine an idea the first step is to draft it. This is where the world of Fashion Illustration comes into play.

Fashion Illustration has been around for nearly 500 years and everyone has unique techniques. Some use markers others just simply sketch it out and add color later. One of the most intriguing illustration media used is watercolor. Today there are many popular Fashion Illustrators who use watercolor.

Cate Parr was born in England, now residing in California, paints in watercolor. She is becoming popular in the art world and has her own Etsy online. She has worked with various companies from Gilly Hicks, to Material Girl Cosmetics, and L’avion. Cate Parr says she is

…inspired every time she sees a fashion show or a garment worn by a stranger on the street. Not only are the city streets inspiring to her, she looks at French and Italian Cinema for inspiration. Cate Parr’s work shows how gorgeous watercolor can be to illustrate her gorgeous creations.

It also shows a great depiction of fashion illustration and it’s collaboration with watercolor. Looking at Cate Parr’s artwork you can see how the media of watercolor makes the model’s hair flow, silky, and voluminous. The way her colors spill into each other creating various new colors and blends. She doesn’t use just one color for the face or the lips; she might select three or four. This is why fashion illustrators tend to be drawn to watercolor. Watercolor can produce innovation. It can reveal new ideas, expose a shape, a design or a fresh color you have not thought of before.

How is watercolor been innovative with your work?

Brittany Lingard

Brittany Lingard is a fashion student who lives in Brooklyn and studies in Buffalo. She is trying to correlate a deeper connection with art and fashion. She has studied and researched different aspects of fashion from its environmental impact, influences, and origins. She has hopes of building her career in fashion forecasting and making the fashion world even more vibrant.

 References:

Parr, C. (n.d.). Cate Parr. Cate Parr. Retrieved February 15, 2013, from http://www.cateparr.com/

Daneshvar, A., & Dennisor, D. (2010, October 7). Interview with Catherine Parr | SECRET GIRLS. SECRET GIRLS. Retrieved February 15, 2013, from http://thesecretgirls.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/interview-with-catherine-parr/