Fida Talks - Finding your Voice

Currently Official Illustrator to Vogue Portugal, Nuno da Costa is one of a select number of illustrators invited to create a Vogue cover in recent history.

Da Costa has also contributed to Showstudio, British Vogue, Vogue CS, Wonderland, Bazaar Germany and Telegraph Luxury. This year, he is appointed a brand ambassador for FIDA (Fashion Illustration Drawing Awards).

After graduating from Central St. Martin’s London, with her MA, Caroline has worked as an illustrator for clients worldwide.

Sketchbook and passport are inseparable for this London based award-winning illustrator obsessed with travel. A natural explorer, Caroline has lived all over the world which has further heightened her wanderlust and love for fashion and culture both of which are a constant source of inspiration.

Her illustrated work, combines beautiful inky flourishes in an endless exploration of trial and error. This is at the heart of Caroline’s process – she believes in making marks and embracing “happy accidents” in order to retains fullness of character and spirit. This helps her work exhibit a loose control which is full of energy.

A selection of brands Caroline has worked with include: Christian Louboutin, Fortnum & Mason, Leo Burnett, Marc Jacobs, Matches Fashion, Rankin, Sephora and SpaceNK.

Her work has broad application across campaigns, retails spaces, book jackets and wine labels. A selection of publications which have featured Caroline’s work are: Hunger, Suitcase, The Guardian, Travel&Leisure and Vogue.

She is passionate about creative collaborations and late 2019 launched a sustainable fashion and home-ware brand ‘The Worn Out Project’ with a range of hand painted ceramics, printed and embroidered vintage clothing all launched in conjunction with Anthropologie.

Recently, Caroline has been incorporating film and animation into her work. Her latest film ‘Wanderlust Illustrated‘ was featured on Mindsparkle Magazine, Inky Goodness and Little Black Book.

Caroline teaches and works with undergraduate students at various Universities and Art Colleges as a visiting lecturer in Illustration. 

Jessica Bird is a Scottish artist/illustrator based in London. Jessica has a background in Fashion Design, studying at Grays School of Art and subsequently working across design, press and sales for multiple British design houses before becoming a full time artist in 2018.

Brightly coloured, chalk pastel and charcoal drawings both of the nude and fashioned figure are the main focus of Jessica's work. With a particular affection for unique striking faces Bird often works as a live fashion artist backstage at fashion week capturing fleeting moments with her spontaneous marks. 

Awards - FIDA Fashion Illustration and Drawing Awards 2020 - Winner (Documentary Award)

Clients:

Samsung, Wonderland, Lee Jeans, SHOWstudio, MATCHESFASHION.COM Man, WeTransfer, Armani, Freeda Media, Delpozo, EDITION hotels, A Magazine Curated By, Alex Monroe, Maje, Monica Vinader, Off The Rails, Karen Millen, Scotch & Soda, Calzedonia Group, Alice Made This, E.Tautz, The Rake, Riley Studio and Fox Brothers and Co.

Joanna Layla is a London-based illustrator and contemporary artist. She graduated with First-class Honours in English Language & Literature – a degree that sparked her interest in visual language and communication. Seeing illustration as a parallel discipline to literature threads though all her work – from design to her poetic interpretation of a brief.

“I want to create beauty and joy through shape and colour whilst also making the viewer complicit in the reading of the image – leaving space for them to read their own narrative. Something complete in the incomplete. I aspire to an image that has depth, layers of meaning, whilst simultaneously retaining something minimal in its design. The word ‘Simplexity’ has been used to describe my work. I love that.”

She is drawn to the human form – both the body in fashion but also in literature and art. She applies a natural instinct for fluid brushstrokes and shapes to conceptual and editorial artwork. And it’s this collision of the brushstroke, the figurative, with the conceptual that inspires and frames her editorial identity.

Working in and collaborating with the fashion industry, Layla is passionate about fashion and sustainability – and her role in communicating sustainable and environmental aspects and challenges of the fashion world as a fashion illustrator. This is reflected in her recent fashion editorial work, her teaching role as Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion and collaborations with sustainable fashion brands such as ELV Denim; and most distinctly in her recent exhibitions with Cluster Illustration in London.  

2020 sees Joanna Layla newly represented by Bleur Gallery for her original works on paper, and also her debut solo show in London curated by Ema Marinova. This year she will also take up residencies with institutions in France and London. In the spring she will debut a Fashion Short Film with Simran Phull and in July teach a new course at Central Saint Martins with Grace Attlee.