Sonia Delunay's Fashion

Sonia Delaunay

Delaunay’s work, although quite far in style from my own textile designs, has had a huge influence on my research for this project.  I find her use of hand-drawn geometric shapes in bold colours very inspiring. The simplicity of her patterns has taught me a lot about pattern construction and repeat, while her use of shape, size and colour in these designs is beautifully eye-catching, and made me think carefully about colour and composition in my work.

Many of her designs were transformed into fashion designs and prints for scarves; she also produced many fashion illustrations for the design of these garments. It is her versatility as an artist that appeals to me – she had an eye for pattern in everything she made.  I also particularly like her later designs which are tighter and of a more graphic quality, often inspired by the natural world or by childhood objects.

Portugese Tiles

Erté

The work of Erté (Romain de Tirtoff), the popular fashion illustrator of the 1920’s and 30’s, had a particular relevance to me because of the pattern-like quality of his illustrations. He has a particular way of using shape and layout to frame his work that makes it appear almost as a section of a repeat pattern. Much of his work has a geometric feel to it, though in actual fact, he rarely uses such simple shapes, and this I feel adds to its pattern quality. 

In addition to this, his work often shows in great detail the embellishment, decoration and print of the garments he illustrates, often so much so that these elements become the main focus of the illustration.  I find his work very visually inspiring for both this attention to pattern and for his use of colour. There is a narrative to all of his work, though it was used for depiction of clothing, rather than narrative illustration. Looking at his work made me consider how illustration can be used to create pattern.