Q&A: Illustrating NYFW S/S 24 Womenswear With Teresa Austin

Before fashion film, there was fashion photography, and before fashion photography, there was fashion illustration. Dazzling the pages of many of fashion's most revered publications, wondrous illustrations adorned the covers (and continued to decorate the inside pages) of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Flair, Tatler and many more throughout the first half of the 20th century, proving quite an asset to the quintessential style bible. Having always believed in the power of illustration, primarily when used to communicate a mood or palpable presence, SHOWstudio have long been inviting fashion's most talented illustrators, on and under the radar, to offer their unique talent in interpreting the latest season's collections.

For the New York fashion shows, which have just come to a close, we invited celebrated artist Teresa Austin to reimagine her favourite shows. Choosing to illustrate looks from The Fabricant, Helmut Lang, Eckhaus Latta, Palomo Spain, Dion Lee, Dauphinette and Colin LoCascio, Austin immortalised each brands' offering into mesmerising pieces of art in line with her signature aesthetic.

Soft and luminous in appearance, Austin's style is characterised through her rough yet refined lines, working with a subdued colour palette to imbue her solitary artworks with a sense of moodiness that re-centres the viewer's gaze on the model's face expression each time. Colours are kept to a minimum and so is the detail in the background and yet Austin still manages to create such textured drawings. How? We spoke to the artist to find out more about her illustrative style, inspiration and working process.

SHOWstudio: How would you describe your illustrative style in three words? 

Teresa Austin: Impetuous, sensitive, idiosyncratic.

Ss: Can you talk a bit about your journey to becoming an illustrator? 

TA: I have a fondness for uninhibited lines. My best friend is a STABILO pencil. It was the first artistic tool that I put into my hands seven years ago when I began sketching. I find a certain thrill in the unexpected and the raw form. The bawdy, the spontaneous. That liberating movement, in itself, is what drives my art.

Ss: What do you think makes fashion illustration relevant in 2023? 

TA: Illustration conveys a message that mere words cannot. It is in those unrestrained lines where a deeper meaning resides. Also, it’s pure joy to let loose and embrace the wild.

Ss: How did you choose which brands / looks you wanted to illustrate? 

TA: The pieces I chose struck in me feelings of raw essence.  A certain type of poetic spontaneity. I admire a designer who can elicit such pure emotion through color and form and movement. 

Ss: What do you want to express with your work?

TA: To evoke and illuminate pure instantaneous emotion.

Ss: Do you think having an individual artistic style is important as an artist? Is this something that's set in stone for you or constantly adapting and evolving? 

TA: I do, but it is not necessary in the beginning phases of the artistic journey. Putting the time in is critical to the development of individual style. 

Innately, personal style starts the first time one sets pencil to paper. I realised early on that I am a reductionist - in the artistic sense. I’m constantly erasing lines to achieve a type of minimalistic effect to get to the grit, to reveal, through a constant stripping away. 

So yes, style is a continuum, constantly changing and morphing to one’s own personal experiences.