Longchamp: Fall 2015

The ubiquitous fashion IT-girl Alexa Chung stars once again in this season's Longchamp campaign. This is the fourth collaboration between Chung and Longchamp, and for good reason: Chung personifies the classic, modern sophistication and modest charm synonymous with the brand's aesthetic.

Alexa Chung's street style

Photographed by Max Vadukul in Wynwood, Miami, this campaign continues to highlight the significance of art in Longchamp's legacy as not only is the set of the campaign based in an art

gallery neighborhood, but the collection held inspiration from the renowned Memphis Group.

Alexa Chung in the fall 2015 Longchamp Campaign by Max Vadukul.

My illustration of the Fall 2015 Longchamp Campaign 

Longchamp has a long history of collaborating with and supporting a multitude of designers and artists such as Sarah Morris, Mary Katrantzou, Jeremy Scott, Tracey Emin and Thomas Heatherwick among many. I look forward to many collaborations to come.

Jeremy Scott for Longchamp

Mary Katrantzou for Longchamp

Sarah Morris for Longchamp

Balenciaga Fall 2015

The Balenciaga collection and campaign is my favorite of the season.

The Fall 2015 Balenciaga collection by Alexander Wang heralded some of the house's most powerful statement pieces; the rounded, bulky shouldered jackets, the asymmetrically slit skirts, heavy woolens and tweeds paired with form-fitting fabrics and particularly edgy cigarette pants; statements mastered by Wang's predecessor, Nicolas Ghesquiere.

Below: images from the Balenciaga Fall 2015 collection

Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere:

Balenciaga Fall 2008

Balenciaga Fall 2006

Balenciaga Fall 2008

The campaign this season, photographed by the ever brilliant Steven Klein perfectly epitomizes the Balenciaga aesthetic;  masterful, modern, stark, mysterious. Starring Kate Moss and Lara Stone, the campaign balances their bold features and the starkness of the setting, creating an air of mystery and elegance.

Below: images from Balenciaga's Fall 2015 campaign by Steven Klein, featuring Kate Moss and Lara Stone:

My illustration of the Fall 2015 Balenciaga campaign

A Return to Art

I have always loved drawing and painting. My love for art and design came, no doubt, from the creative chemistry inherited through generations of my family. As a child and teenager, I would ecstatically hole myself up in my room to copy from my many art history books or create my own fun illustrations.

My passion for art continued at university where I specialized in Art History; I not only loved illustrating, but thoroughly enjoyed absorbing everything I could about the history, rhetoric,  politics, symbolism and significance of art as well as proselytize my theses into submission like a nerdy van Damme.

Courreges photographed by Bert Stern. Illustrated by me.

Yet somehow over the past number of years I have distanced myself from my own creativity. I feel it is something many do and is not entirely a conscious decision; this dismissal of the things that make us deeply happy eventually develops into a despondent exchange for the rite of adulthood.

Having realized this (for a loooong time), I  have decided to make a positive stand to own my creativity again! I have challenged myself to draw something every day for 100 consecutive days. As one of my greatest loves is fashion, I have been taking inspiration from the many designers, models and photographers who have formed my appreciation in that field.

I have strayed a bit from blogging as well, but will post some the most iconic images in fashion that have inspired me tremendously.

Linda Evangelista backstage at Chanel. Illustrated by me.