From catwalk to canvas
By Patty Huntington |
September 6, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DANNY Roberts is something of a modelizer, but not the slick sort who's always dating them. He draws them, and over the last year has posted several hundred portraits of catwalkers in clothing from Donna Karan to Alexander McQueen on his blog, Igor + Andre.
Now his work is becoming the clothing itself, appearing on accessories and T-shirts this fall. Men's shoe designer Wells Stellberger features a Roberts townscape on a pair of derby shoes in his Heutchy line; London-based e-tailer Borders & Frontiers sells Roberts' illustrated T-shirt, Girls in Glasses and Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers's fall collection includes 10 different Roberts illustrations on canvas totes, satchels, graphic T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts.
"Fashion is kind of a door into a dream world for me," says Roberts, 24. "Seeing a fashion collection is like picking the wardrobe for the story that is being written in my head."
Roberts, a native Southern Californian, works in watercolors, pen, ink, colored pencils and mixed media, and looks to Aubrey Beardsley, German expressionist Egon Schiele and an archive of old photographs, paintings, fashion editorials and runway shots for ideas.
"Natural beauty and women inspire me more than anything," he says. "I would say romance is a real driving force in my work."
His soft, ethereal artistic style belies the sharp business acumen he's been honing since a young age. In kindergarten, Roberts performed handstands for candy money. In first grade, he drew comic books and sold them to high school students.
"I didn't know who Lily Cole or Gemma Ward were, and then one day in my first year of college, I saw a picture of Gemma and I froze, because she looked just like my drawings," said Roberts. Sophie Ward -- sister of Gemma and an aspiring writer and publisher -- has become a close confidante.
Roberts' fascination with models surely has to do with their flawlessness, but that's the one quality he hopes isn't conveyed in his work.
"The more perfect the image, I think, the less people can connect with it," he says. "People are drawn to imperfections."
Now his work is becoming the clothing itself, appearing on accessories and T-shirts this fall. Men's shoe designer Wells Stellberger features a Roberts townscape on a pair of derby shoes in his Heutchy line; London-based e-tailer Borders & Frontiers sells Roberts' illustrated T-shirt, Girls in Glasses and Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers's fall collection includes 10 different Roberts illustrations on canvas totes, satchels, graphic T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts.
"Fashion is kind of a door into a dream world for me," says Roberts, 24. "Seeing a fashion collection is like picking the wardrobe for the story that is being written in my head."
Roberts, a native Southern Californian, works in watercolors, pen, ink, colored pencils and mixed media, and looks to Aubrey Beardsley, German expressionist Egon Schiele and an archive of old photographs, paintings, fashion editorials and runway shots for ideas.
"Natural beauty and women inspire me more than anything," he says. "I would say romance is a real driving force in my work."
His soft, ethereal artistic style belies the sharp business acumen he's been honing since a young age. In kindergarten, Roberts performed handstands for candy money. In first grade, he drew comic books and sold them to high school students.
"I didn't know who Lily Cole or Gemma Ward were, and then one day in my first year of college, I saw a picture of Gemma and I froze, because she looked just like my drawings," said Roberts. Sophie Ward -- sister of Gemma and an aspiring writer and publisher -- has become a close confidante.
Roberts' fascination with models surely has to do with their flawlessness, but that's the one quality he hopes isn't conveyed in his work.
"The more perfect the image, I think, the less people can connect with it," he says. "People are drawn to imperfections."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
