Graphic Design For Fashion

A new Laurence King book, Graphic Design for Fashion, delves into this world to showcase examples which are a product of the sector’s insistence on being highly innovative and creative.

The book is divided along the lines of branding, lookbooks, invitations and packaging, and gives a visually-led account of work with further insights from clients and designers.

Some insightful stories are told in this book, the best of these being the relationship between Paul Smith and his favoured design practice Aboud Creative, which is headed up by Alan Aboud.

Aboud graduated in 1989 from St Martins with a degree in graphic design and received a call from Smith shortly after his degree show.

‘My work was totally non-fashion, non figurative, it was the real antithesis of what you would expect. But Paul has a knack of choosing the “wrong” person. It is an obtuse but intuitive way of working,’ says Aboud

Smith appointed Aboud to design his print materials, and as this only took up a few days per week Aboud took on other freelance projects, and apparently without any intention of starting a studio took over a space with fellow graduate and photographer Sandro Sodano.

Aboud Creative almost functions as the in-house creative team at Paul Smith yet remains autonomous.

Aboud says, ‘I can’t explain why or how we are still working together, it’s just a bond we have. There are no written briefs; it’s usually just a picture or a scribbled note. I know intuitively what he wants and I can just get on with it. I think that is what makes him happy.’

Antione+Manuel’s work for Christian Lacroix jumped out for its marrying of hand drawn and digital images with typographic branding and messaging. Natural and fantastical forms are shown through many different bold expressions and colours, yet a consistent brand message is still conveyed.

Rather than design a conventional lookbook Harrimansteel has designed a ‘views-paper’ for womenswear label Eley Kishimoto.

The label also works on accessories and homeware, and across its portfolio comes into contact with many collaborators.

The views-paper has come to be known as a ‘family album of collaborators’ which eschews showing off the label’s latest collections in favour of acting as a platform for artists, designers, photographers and writers that have worked with Eley Kishimoto to contribute to.

The paper has also been a catwalk memento and eventually a lookbook. ‘It wasn’t until issue four that we began to use real images of clothes,’ says Harriman Steel co-founder Nick Steel. 

Graphic Design For Fashion is published by Laurence King, is priced £14.95, and has been designed by studio byBoth founders Jay Hess and Simone Pasztorek.