On wednesday evening the launch party for Tony Glenville's, 'New Icons Of Fashion Illustration' was held by F.I.G at the Mayor Gallery, London. On display were originals and prints by several of the featured illustrators including Tanya Ling, Richard Haines, Richard Gray and David Downton. Tony was of course on hand to sign copies, along with a handful of the illustrators featured.
In an industry that, admittedly in parts, can be unaware of how to utilize illustrators, New Icons Of Fashion Illustration is a very welcome and much needed publication. Whilst books on fashion illustrators tend to do well because fans struggle to find illustrations consistently in magazines, being the niche area that it is, they are most often not as tight nor selective as New Icons, and don't provide an adequate showcasing of the upper tier of established and significant talents. Frustratingly, it's the overload of compilation books with claims such as "200 illustrators! 500 images!" that potentially do more damage than they do promotion for the placement of illustration within fashion. It's important to provide focus and respect to the most revered and inspirational, and to reflect on their relevance, which is exactly what New Icons does with it's sumptuous layouts, full page images and informative information on each artist.
The final line up of a book that focuses on 'Icons' is always going to prove a contentious area. There is never a clear cut definition of exactly who is the 'best', or who are the most prolific or deserving are. There are illustrators out there who are considered to be the most revered and honoured, yet can seem obscure or even irrelevant in terms of their presence in media and publication. There will always be the question of why so-and-so wasn't involved, or why a certain illustrator was featured that perhaps the reader doesn't rate as strongly. It's a question of curation, and Tony Glenville, as a revered journalist and a master of knowledge in the area, provides an exceptionally formidable roster of talents (including who I deem my personal holy trinity, Richard Gray, David Downton and Julie Verheoven).
New Icons focuses on a range of illustrators that offer varying styles of inspiration, whether it's Tanya Ling's beautiful and expressionistic female figures, Cedric Rivrain's stunning approach to a distinctly classic rendering style or Stina Persson's vivid ink silhouettes. There are several illustrators I myself was unaware of yet have taken an interest in after reading, and will pursue them further.
If you wish to learn who the best in the area are, then look no further than New Icons.
Tony is currently Creative Director of the School of Media and Communications at the London College of Fashion. As a journalist, his work has appeared in The Independent, The Express & Sunday Express, View on Colour, Textile View, French Vogue and The FT "How to spend it" Supplement. Tony joined Conde Nast in 1996 as European Editor at Large for Vogue Australia, later becoming Fashion Director for Asia Pacific working with Vogue in Taiwan and Korea and the launch of Vogue Nippon. In 2007 he also published Top To Toe; A Comprehensive Guide To Grooming The Modern Male.
