The Hamburg SHOP luxury guide just came out and I am really excited about sharing the process of that new cover.
The brief was great as per usual. This time it was all about fashion and more specifically about the return of Jil Sander as the head of design for the brand. It was announced that Raf Simon, who created some truly gorgeous colourful dresses over the past few seasons was leaving to let the very sharp and minimalistic edgy style of Jil Sander make its way back into the collections to come.
The first thing I did was to research both designers aesthetics.
I was really surprised by the monochrome and very pared down approach of the original Jil Sander style in comparison to Raf Simons bold and colourful aestetic.
That stripey blue and white dress was the most stricking of all : I remembered seeing it all over the magazines last year and felt that this was Raf Simons most stricking and iconic piece so I knew I had to reference that one somehow.
The contrast of those two styles had to be at the center of the cover itself so I had to find a way to get to the essence of both styles while communicating the fact that Jil Sander was returning as head designer of the brand and Raf Simons leaving.
The first idea that sprung to my mind was a very simple one : showing that very short moment in a catwalk when one model comes forward and crosses path with the previous model leaving the stage. There was such simplicity in that image, yet It felt like the strongest way to communicate the concept.
There was another challenge to come : Jil Sander looks were so sharp and geometrical that my usual organic lines seemed inappropriate this time. I knew I could enhance Raf Simons aesthetic by using colours and stripes but I was afraid it would somehow take the limelight of Jil Sander monochrome looks. Which of course, would communicate the opposite of what needed to be said.
I decided to try and create that illustration using geometrical shapes and paring the lines down as much as possible to bring forward Jil Sander aesthetic. It was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, playing with triangles and lines and trying to merge both figures into almost one shape.
As I was experimenting with compositions, I realized I only had this one idea to present but was so sure it was the right way to go with it that I sent it to the guys at SHOP as a very advanced illustration. It is quite rare for me not to give my clients some options but when it happens, you are always slightly scared that the client won’t get it.
Thankfully they did ; )
The last step was only about tweaking colours and refining the illustration itself until it felt like I couldn’t take away any more lines or details.
I really enjoyed the almost mathematical approach to that cover and seeing it makes me feel excited about the endless possibilities of abstracting my work in the future.
Malika x
