#edwardsteichen

Have you ever seen the cover of a vintage Vogue or Harper Bazaar’s and admired the vibrant illustrations that showcased the latest fashion trends during that time? Although they have been gracing some of the first high fashion magazines, such as The Lady’s Magazine and Le Cabinet des Modes, since the 16th century, fashion illustration was not recognized as an art form until the early 20th century.

It all began when the French courtier Paul Poiret was drawn to French illustrator and designer Paul Iribe’s earlier works in the satirical journal Le témoin and requested him to illustrate his designs for a small promotional publication, intended for the elites of good society.

Poiret's second collection of designs, Les Choses de Paul Poiret, was published in 1911 and was illustrated by Georges Lepape, whose work was inspired by the paintings of Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse; expanded stances and figures, opposing Iribe's approach. By 1920, Lepape had demonstrated his artistic approach on a number of other Vogue and Vanity Fair covers.

Because of the increased demand for fashion and the acceleration of trends during this century, Lucien Vogel, the founder of La Gazette du Bon Ton (1912), intended to provide a forum for artists to not only demonstrate their talent but also illustrate for seven haute couture houses; Poiret, Doucet, Paquin, Cheruit, Redfern, Doeuillet, and Poiret, Doucet, Paquin, Cheruit, Redfern, Doeuillet, and Poiret, Doucet, and Worth.

The Beaux Brummells were a group of artists who appeared in the magazine. All eight artists studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts: Paul Iribe, Jean Besnard, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Pierre Brissaud, A.E Marty, George Barbier, Charles Martin, and George Lepape. They were grouped together under one movement category, where they gave a realistic depiction of the Leisure Class's daily existence.

Despite the fact that La Gazette du Bon Ton was only published from 1912 to 1925, each issue had varied sketches of the designs, stenciled sheets, and colorful pages printed on handmade paper. Jean Saude used a Japanese technique to stencil these stenciled sheets by hand as well. When World War I broke out, Conde Montrose Nast bought a majority interest in the magazine at the end of its run.

This is where Conde Nast enters the picture, as the home of many of the world's most important brands and publications. Conde Nast, who purchased Vogue in 1909, pioneered a new approach to publishing by presenting avant-garde developments in art, photography, literature, and fashion in relation to their cultural context.

Vogue US featured a more romantic illustration style, which was influenced by painters such as Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, and Alphonse Mucha. After WWI, however, modern art forms such as cubism, expressionism, futurism, and abstract art began to appear on magazine covers, including the French issue of Vogue. As a result, artists like Lepape and Eduardo Garcia Benito disregarded American illustrators like Dryden and Plank in the mid-1920s.

Meanwhile, in the early 1930s, a new art movement known as new realism emerged, which was centered by American illustrator Carl Erickson, who emphasized more natural fluid lines. They redefined the approach of the artistic style for fashion illustration seen on Vogue covers alongside Rene Bouet-Willaumez.

Despite the high demands placed on illustrators throughout this decade, fashion illustration began to fade as photography took over. Edward Steichen's color photography was the first to grace the cover of Vogue, which appeared in 1932. As a result, publishers concluded around the turn of the century that magazine covers with photographs sold better than those with graphics. Even though they continued to try to merge digital and manual creative works, pictures were the primary instrument in the 1950s and beyond.

In honor of Photographer Appreciation Month!

Image Description: Page spread with a title on the right page. Left page shows a photo of the photographer standing on the aircraft carrier with his camera.