Tucked away along the Victorian coastline sits the studio of Australian fashion illustrator Angie Rehe. This sanctuary of colour and vivid imagination houses an archive of art and fashion thoughtfully curated throughout her time in the industry as designer, illustrator and educator.
We recently visited Rehe to discuss how stepping away from the fashion industry's relentless pace has freed her to appreciate clothing from any era, and how the act of drawing can serve as a powerful counterpoint to our culture of visual overconsumption.
Your recent collaboration on the Lee Alexander McQueen book features over 60 illustrations capturing all 36 of his collections. How did you approach translating McQueen's revolutionary designs, which were often as much about challenging social norms as they were about fashion, into your visual language?
I treated each of the collections as a separate project, because they each had their own complete story and message. I watched YouTube clips of the original parades, went through the looks one by one, read reviews and what Lee had to say. After doing that I’d have a picture in my head of how I wanted to draw them, what media, what pose, etc. Then, of course, I had to choose just one from most of the collections, which wasn’t easy! I also met with the curators at the NGV to discuss my selections, and to see their McQueen archive collection close up which was incredibly helpful. The research and thinking took much longer than the actual drawings!
(Angie illustrates the Polka Pop Silk Cacoon Dress from AW25)
Can you tell us more about your illustration practice? How do you carve out space to creative recharge? What practices help you maintain that essential balance between output and input in your artistic life?
It can be hard in busy times, but it’s i mportant to me to have just creative time. I do my best not to do “work” on the weekends, but instead go to art exhibitions, do life drawing or paint (canvases) in my studio – things that aren’t directly about making money. As a daily habit, I like to start the day with some loose sketching to get it all flowing.
In our current climate of fast fashion and digital overconsumption, how do you see fashion illustration serving as a counterpoint to the endless stream of imagery we encounter daily?
Fashion illustration, particularly when done on paper, has that lovely made by someone’s hand aspect, and as it’s an interpretation and expression of the subject, it is entirely unique to the person who created it. Fashion illustration at its best is evocative and should provoke some sort of emotional reaction, even just simple pleasure. All these things should hopefully stop the scroll for a moment at least!
Having worked both as a designer within the Australian fashion industry and now as an illustrator, how has your relationship with clothing itself evolved? Do you find that illustrating garments has changed how you experience getting dressed or choosing what to wear in your own life?
My approach to clothing has definitely changed. Stepping away from the ,fashion industry meant getting off the hamster wheel and the obsession with “What’s next? What’s new?” which was the omnipresent theme to most of the design roles I held. Suddenly I was free to indulge in clothes from any era, shop my own fabulous archive, and care zero about what was trending. I’m automatically attracted to clothes which would be good to draw in terms of details or shapes, the problem being that when I put them on I don’t have the proportions of a fashion sketch!
(Angie illustrates the Pin Cord Daria Dress & the Elena Blouse with ink twill tailored pant)
You’ve worked with major publications like Vogue and Elle, while also teaching workshops and creating educational content. What role do you think artists have in shaping how we see and value clothing in our daily lives?
Hopefully by taking time to draw clothing, we come to appreciate it more – instead of flicking past we are looking intently and seeing so much more than we normally would. Even if we’re just looking at the drawings, we will hopefully catch the spirit of the clothing and see it as something more than just fabric. As an illustrator it’s your job to identify this spirit and communicate it through the drawing.