'Fashion illustration has become a lost art, this has become all too apparent in 2009 when only a handful of illustrators are still having their talents employed. But just as Scott Schuman’s street photography has revitalized the medium, Richard Haines has emerged to give illustration a new purpose. His gestural style is reminiscent of children’s book illustrator Quentin Blake, and by sketching the looks of NYC’s downtown boys Richard has captured a moment in time, a defining style tribe. His quick pencil lines define a clear silhouette and look — a long lean line, controlled volume, and youth-focused classicism. And more than style, expressing what photographers can often miss, Haines has captured the attitude. Suave stances, impish leans, the clustering of figures into an elegant still life of cloth and flesh. In the years since Slimane dictated this mood, Haines is the first to properly cement it into the artistic history of the male figure'.
in Atlantic City ($24.50!) and now I'm in Paris and it's 1963. Here's what I've been wearing all week. My apologies to people who have seen me more than once...
when it came I would pore over the photos of Serge Luten's make up for Dior, and Guy Bourdin's ads and editorial stories. They're in my head when I close my eyes. That's why I love this photo by Josh Olins in the new Japanese Homme Vogue.
Sometimes I get s*it for only drawing one body 'type.' I was so inspired by David Robinson's 'Happening' last Saturday so thought I would post those for my bearsy friends.
New York is an endless runway. Watching people is as compelling today as it was when I first moved here many years ago.
My design eye is informed by working with some of the best in the business - Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Perry Ellis and Sean Combs. They taught me how to look at fabric, shape, color. I'm taking that knowledge and combining it with my love of illustration to record what I see around me - the vital and always changing style of guys in New York.
I am currently illustrating for In Style magazine, J Crew and accepting private commissions. Interested? Email me.
email: haines.richard@gmail.com