I’m stepping into the wayback machine again to tell you about a collaboration I did with Marks & Spencer in 2014 – actually, the entire process began in 2013 and the products went on sale in 2014. There’s reason for this that’s not about nostalgia but more about the illustrator I chose to make the packaging as beautiful as it was. Nuno da Costa was a renowned fashion and beauty illustrator (I first came across his work when Clinique commissioned him to make some bespoke cards as a press gift) already but I’m happy to say that he has gone from strength to strength and we are still friends to this day.
Which brings me around to saying that he has just done some more work with Vogue Portugal (where he is now the Official Illustrator but his clients include Chanel, Tiffany, Clinique, MAC, L’Oreal, Max Factor and so on…) reimagining famous Vogue covers with modern make up shades and brands. Above, you can see the Twiggy American Vogue July 1967 by Avedon, now wearing M.A.C Cosmetics. Obviously, they’re stunning, as you can see from the pictures I’m including.
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Above is Brooke Shields’ Vogue Paris October 1984 by Albert Watson- she is now wearing Guerlain. If you want to read about the journey to creating the make-up collection for M&S I have a post HERE that you can look at. It’s interesting to look back because I very much had a vision for the illustrations to be very elegant, pared back and chic and instructed Nuno as such but meanwhile, M&S were instructing him to put flowers over everything so he had a very fine line to tread and all of his diplomacy skills were put to the test. Otherwise, M&S was a dream to work with and the limited edition collection sold out completely so we can’t say better than that.
But beauty illustration is a sometimes overlooked art form – when my fashion student son turned 21 we bought him a David Downton print which was both fashion and beauty led and in the past I’ve commissioned illustrator Miss Magpie Spy HERE to create a watercolour of a bride-to-be as a wedding present – flowing red dress and plenty of lashes! This kind of illustration makes a brilliant gift – it’s so unexpected and if it’s personalised, a unique piece that’s there for a life time. One of my favourite pictures at home is an illustrated gift from Bourjois (above).
Nuno has some artworks for sale (and they’re not as expensive as you might think) if you have a special present to buy – I love his Zodiac collection (Scorpio is my favourite). One of his skills is skin – he makes it look glassy and watery – so I’ll send you to the Store part of his website HERE. If you want to look further, you can just Google ‘beauty illustrators’ and a whole host will pop up and you can contact them individually or via their agent. It’s a community that deserves our beauty loving attention, that’s for sure. Imagine a stylised portrait of yourself wearing your favourite lipstick! It’s a gift to self waiting to happen. The main picture at the top is Kate Moss British Vogue March 1993 by Corinne Day, now wearing Chanel Beauty. Other illustrators to look out for are Katherine Asher, Tracy Turnbull and Kelly Smith. Nuno da Costa is an ambassador for FIDA – the Fashion Illustration Drawing Awards. Fun Fact: I try and learn something new every year and a few years back I took a Fashion Drawing day course. I wasn’t too shabby either.
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