New York-based fashion illustrator Richard Haines sketched his favourites silhouettes from the AW 2020 Haute Couture collections in a new series titled ‘New Drawings for a New Era’, a project commissioned by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM).
Known for his on-the-go charcoal sketches capturing fashion moments from the streets of New York to the Paris runways, Haines worked on a small collection of drawings illustrating his singular vision of the couture houses’ virtual presentations. “Every designer is sending a message, my goal is to find out what the message is,” Haines told A Magazine. “Couture is wonderful to draw because it is by nature an exaggeration, a dream”.
‘New Drawings for a New Era’ gives a fresh perspective on Haute Couture by adapting the age old tradition of fashion illustration to the digital age. “When I told friends 10 years ago I was going into illustration, they thought I was crazy”. Surprisingly, his practice has found a new momentum today, despite the increasingly mobile consumption of fashion in the digital age. Faced with this apparent oxymoron, Haines places his practice in the bigger picture: “I think because people are exposed to so much digital content, illustration provides a refreshing contrast. It’s a very human connection that can’t be replaced. An illustrator can edit in a way that lets the viewer fill in with their imagination – I love that interaction.”