Creating a magical world where anything is possible is part of the charm of fashion illustration. The work of Gary Fernández enters the realms of Alice in Wonderland, Federico Fellini and possibly even Aubrey Beardsley in order to convey the impossible as reality.
Hair is draped as fabric, weightless models may be suspended in mid-air simply by holding a parasol, or stripes can swirl from a giant-sized bauble right around the bubble-shaped skirt of a mannequin. As Lewis Carroll put it, ‘Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’ The imagination Fernández brings to his work implies that each image may have sprung from a larger story, perhaps an animation or a series recounting a fashion fable; indeed he does often create a visual narrative through a set of images.
Fernández’s machines for creating elegance are extraordinary and the gravity-defying invention of his landscapes secures him a special position in the world of style. Yet his imagination can be harnessed for such relatively prosaic applications as portraying store interiors, or advertising products, among a range of outcomes and applications; his fantasies can come down to earth as a commercial proposition.
The interesting thing about fashion illustrators like Gary Fernández is how they turn a totally personal vision into a reality for others to share. Like Richard Gray, yet in a very different manner, he uses illustration as an intense tool of communication that ties a ribbon around a bundle of elements to create a cohesive whole. His fashion and style illustrations are timeless in their mood; they are not faithful depictions of the season’s hot item, rather their intent is to surprise and engage the viewer. Many of the images seem to suggest music – jazz is hugely important to Fernández – and they appear to correspond to his desire to awaken more than just the visual sense.
Fernández has international experience and appeal. There will be some who find his blinding visions unpalatable, while others appreciate this great gift of fashion illustration – the ability to let personal identity shine through in a work. Erté would have saluted his vision, and Fernández’s singular inventiveness echoes the great review costumes and bold originality of the Erté journey, from his earliest work through to his later designs for the Casino de Paris and Zizi Jeanmaire. In the end, Fernández offers us his own carefully edited vision of the world, a world in which anything is possible.
Forest-Dress, for Introduction to Fantastic Girls, Future Landscapes & the Most Beautiful Birds Ever Seen, 2008.
The trees bend inwards to create a crinoline skirt, the wind stretches the model’s hair into a wing, and throughout droplets cascade downwards. All this is perfectly normal in the inventive world of Fernández.
An Ordinary Day in the Park #2 (Revisted), 2010.
Against a calm blue-grey ground a girl is seemingly hiding musicians under her skirt.
A Real Good Time (Revisited), 2010.
In another illustration from the same series, a girl ignores two gentlemen – they could be from Verona or be Tweedledum and Tweedledee – who gesture stylishly towards a downpour of decorations.
Where and when were you born and where do you live now?
I was born in November 1980 in Managua, Nicaragua. Now, I’ve just moved from Madrid, Spain, to Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA.
Any particular childhood influences?
In my childhood I was influenced by my parents’ nomadic spirit, becoming a nomad myself today. That gives me a quite wide perspective on and perception of the world that I guess I apply to my work. Lately I have become especially fond of the works of Federico Fellini and Jacques Tati.
What is your earliest drawing memory?
My mother still keeps some of my kindergarten drawings somewhere. What I clearly remember is tracing a painting of the Virgin Mary from an art book when I was nine, which I still have somewhere in a box.
What was your first professional work?
I was tracing logotypes in my hometown, 11 years ago. At that time I was invited to design some T-shirt graphics for a surf T-shirt brand based in the south of Spain. Some time in between then and now, I was working in the design team of a fashion magazine in Madrid, which in some way, I feel, was my first professional work. As a freelance illustrator, my first professional work was a big ad campaign in Spain, back in 2004.
Do you have a preferred medium?
I enjoy very much working with the simplest tools such as pencils, pens and plain basic papers, which is a first level in the work I do. But for me, it’s really pleasant to appreciate the finest and detailed work I can only achieve digitally, translated onto fabric, large-scale prints, animations or even three-dimensional objects.
Do you work in silence or with background music / radio?
I mainly work with background music or radio. But lately I’m also enjoying some working days in silence. Just listening to the birds in front of my windows. While working, if I’m not listening to the radio, I’m a jazz enthusiast – the likes of Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie or John Coltrane…
What would be your ideal commission?
It would be one where I’m asked to make something where you can experience the five senses: you can see it, walk into it, listen to it, touch it and even smell and taste it.
Are you a slow and careful or quick and speedy draughtsman?
My work has two levels of requirement. The first one is done quite fast. It’s raw. And the second one, due to the details, requires much more time, and precision.
Do you keep a sketchbook?
Yes, I’m always drawing, sometimes very schematic lines, and taking notes. So I have several notebooks saved that I usually consult to refresh my mind with ideas.
How would you describe your work?
Rhythmic, orchestrated, sensual, full of movement and risky.
Do you research your subjects? How do you research?
Yes, I do. The research consists of just walking the streets, talking to people, visiting antique stores, reading books and also surfing the internet.
How does your personal work relate to your professional output?
I think it has to be very linked, in order to evolve. In most cases, I just translate my personal work into the client’s requirements. Sometimes that happens directly, at the request of the client. In other cases, indirectly, when a new approach I discover through my personal work is applied to a project.
Anything else you wish to tell the reader?
If you can see something, that means it exists. Trust in magic.
The Metallic Peacock Feathers, Custo Barcelona, 2010.
Soaring away with his imagination, Fernandez reinterprets the peacock feather and fan tail into his own colour palette and arrangement.
Fairwells in a Suitcase, Escala, 2010.
This model’s extraordinarily luxuriant hair forms a golden background for the elaborate folds of her huge shawl and matching turban in deep chocolate and violet.
Slippery Moves, Escala, 2010.
Reminiscent of the extraordinary images of Dalí throwing objects and water across the studio, this beautiful image conveys arrested movement both through the poses and the use of undulating pattern and colour.
Radio-Activity, for Introduction to Fantastic Girls, Future Landscapes & the Most Beautiful Birds Ever Seen, 2008.
This image romanticizes technology by visualizing sound through arabesques and tendrils arching from the headphone wires as the hands and face provide a still focus at the centre.
Cloud Girls and The Pine Cone Girls, Evans, UK, 2010.
These two images seem like a passing carnival parade we are allowed to witness as the models in their more haute than haute couture gowns and hair twirl past us. The signature droplets seem weightier than usual, with an almost ominous quality.