Top 5 Are Fashion Design Illustrators on Social Media

The fashion world is all about what’s next, new, sexy, now, and yet, fashion illustrators—relying on pens, pencils, and paint—are more popular than ever, some even changing our view of Fashion Week this season. Perhaps it’s that hand-made art feels more personal than a photography, or that the illustrator community is more inclusive than the Old(er) Guard world of photography. We could debate it all day, or we could just take a look at 5 creatives using Instagram, one of the most modern platforms, in one of the most beautifully unplugged ways.

@bildonovan

If anyone’s not convinced that illustrators are important to fashion, meet Bil Donovan, Dior Beauty’s first-ever artist-in-residence. Through watercolors and pigment markers, he adds another layer of emotion to runway shows and landscapes alike.

Location: New York, NY

Average Likes: 236

@dallasshaw

If you love the hand-touched designs coming out of DKNY, Chanel, Jack Rogers or Ralph Lauren, chances are you love Dallas Shaw. She’s known for her unabashedly feminine style and long, leggy figures.

Location: Wilmington, Delaware

Average likes: 887

@josephamar

He’s probably the most traditional of the bunch—Parsons-trained, prefers sumi ink and a bamboo brush, has that classic tall-and-thin style which exaggerates the size of the clothes to really put them front and center. His moody style is so eye-catching, it’s been used on invitations for trunk shows instead of the collections themselves.

Location: New York, NY

Average likes: 60

@kimballcreative

Autumn Kimball started an Instagram feed to encourage herself to work faster, and often posts her inspiration photos and their related drawings side by side. Her specialty may be that she doesn’t need one—she does it all, from digitally-manipulated sketches to drippy drawings.

Location: New York and Colorado

Average likes: 87

@thingslizwants

When Eva Chen regrams you, it’s just a matter of time before everyone else catches on, too. Liz is one of the newest of the bunch and is becoming known for her clean, cartoonish portraits of fashion influencers.

Location: New York, NY

Average likes: 123

@bildonovan

@dallasshaw

@josephamar

@kimballcreative

@thingslizwants

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