Couture and fashion illustration have a sibling-like relation. Both are long standing art forms that elevate hand work, and which have managed to persevere in the face of the industrialization of both ready-to-wear and photography. At a time when manus seems overshadowed by machina, they are a reminder of the power of a human touch. With all of this in mind, we invited Jacky Marshall, better known as Jacky Blue and her sister, Blue Farrier, to draw the spring 2024 couture collections.
It was the first time that Marshall, who lives in New York with a small dog, and Farrier, who resides in London with a large cat, had ever collaborated. The artists had free choice of looks, and sometimes landed on the same one—who could resist that bow marinière at Jean Paul Gaultier? Or not be jolted awake by Leon Dame in a corset opening for Maison Margiela Artisanal?
The sisters bring a designer’s as well as an artist’s eye to their illustrations—Marshall worked at Calvin Klein in the ’90s and Farrier for Issa—but their work on paper is free of some of the restraints facing a clothes maker: A drawing doesn’t have to fit on or move with a particular body. Marshall and Farrier’s work is expressive in style, both make use of lines, brushstrokes, textures, and negative and positive space to capture something essential about a look. At its best, fashion illustration operates a bit like scent does, it captures a moment, a memory, a gesture in such a way that it comes back to life when you encounter it again. Take a closer look at the illustrations they created exclusively for Vogue Runway.
Valentino
Chanel
Alaïa
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Schiaparelli
Christian Dior
Maison Margiela
Fendi
