PLEASE 'LIKE' ME!

I have entered the Anne Valerie Hash 'Recreation' competition! Just click on this LINK or the picture above to Like my entry!! THANKS X

Interview with La Mode Outré

Every so often I get the pleasant surprise of email asking me to take part in an interview, my most recent was for James Bent of La Mode Outre. It's always nice to discover when someone is interested in your opinions, especially from the other side of the world! You can read the original interview on James' Asian Street Style Fashion blog HERE.


Vic, please introduce yourself - who you are, where you're from, what you're currently doing.

I'm a Freelance Illustrator based in London, and in my final year studying Fashion Design at Kingston University. For the past year I've been doing commissions alongside my degree, which is a constant balancing act, but definitely been worth-while!

How have you come to be working with illustrations?

Some of my illustrations were featured on a few fashion blogs in Summer 2010, Style Bubble was great for exposure! I never intended on it becoming a 'job' to an extent... but praise can be very motivational, so I started taking illustration more seriously the more people said they liked my work. In early 2011 I illustrated my first book, 'Fashion Bites' which has now been published, this was a pivotal point to it becaming professional.

Would you say you have a definitive style and has that been hard to develop?

I don't think you can push yourself into a style that doesn't feel natural... finding your own way of drawing is an organic process, and happens gradually so I would never describe it as 'hard'. It should almost be unconscious. However, it's a challenge to constantly improve, while maintaining a recognizable 'signature' style. Commissions also require you to tailor your skills for the client, which can also be challenging!

Do you get the feel that illustration is becoming more popular these days?

Technology allows us to do so many things digitally, I am a big admirer of photography but it would be a shame if it completely replaced illustration, I don't think it ever will. I think illustration has been celebrated more in recent years, maybe it's a slight backlash against technology... it's hard to tell what the future will have in store for illustration and photography, but I think there's room for both of them.

Any pieces of work that you've completed that you're quite proud of?

It's funny because as soon as I've finished a project I can see all the ways I could have improved it, always too late of course! So I try not to dwell on the work I've completed. Saying this, I'm proud I illustrated a published book in the first year of being an illustrator, and all the travel opportunities my work has given me... I was commissioned to illustrate a wedding in Florence last summer for a magazine editor, and also did a lot of freelance work in San Francisco when I lived out there earlier this year too.

If you had to condense all the things you've learned into a single sentence, what would that be?

Always follow advice, and believe in yourself!

- Vic Riches

100 Ways to Wear A Kimono

I imagine all Fashion Designers find a personal way of working; a method to generate ideas to find their silhouette, almost like a ritual.

When I was doing my research on GustavoLins, he talked about how his starting point is always a kimono. (Pictured) Through its distortion there's probably about a zillion ways you can make it fall in a new and original way.

Personally, (and I get ripped for this) is my obsessive use of "Collapsed Shapes"... so much so I think I may be turning into a collapsed shape myself!

The other day I bought a cashmere Alexander McQueen cardigan... arguably kimono 'inspired', you can literally wear it a 100 ways!!!! Makes me feel slightly better about scraping out the cash for it, I feel like I bought a whole new wardrobe of cardigans.

Today I'm wearing my McQueen upside-down and back to front. A Human Collapsed Kimono shape! (Don't take the piss out of me in the library)

Nicole Farhi/Vic Riches Concept Video

This is a short video of my concept for designing a collection for Nicole Farhi. The project has been set by the British Fashion Council, and will go towards the Final Year at my BA (Hons) Degree at Kingston University, London!

This video has will not be used for official publication, and is merely a culmination of my research as a student.

The footage contains previous Nicole Farhi catwalk shows, Ned Kahn environmental art, 'Red Dot Design Award' imagery, Fibre Art, someone experimenting with magnets in ferrofluid, and a few other random pieces playing around with kinetic energy. Oh yeah, and the flashy 'kite' graphs are courtesy of Google Images.

Thanks to all for inspiring me!

Klee Blue Boots

Etro Man

Caffè in Café

Wasn't prepared for the potent effect too many coffees back to back would have in a Parisian Café... I'm surprised this drawing isn't more shakey.

Vogue España

My house-mate George is teaching herself how to speak Spanish! So lucky for me she has Spanish Vogue's at my disposal. It's always refreshing to flick through other international versions of this staple fashion magazine... I spent hours raking through the French archive in our library the other day. I'm sure many other fashion lovers/designers would agree on how interesting the striking variaton in international Vogues are... I found this Spanish Issue (where I illustrated from) to be packed with vibrant colour and eclectism... the Iris Apfel feature it had was very fitting.

Le Comptoir General, Paris, Part 3

Featuring Benoit!

Parka

Le Comptoir General, Paris, Part 2

This is an illustration I did of my new Parisian friends, Thomas and Sheryne in Le Comptoir General! It earned me a glass of wine. Because of my extremely low repertoire in foreign language, I've always found drawing a great way to meet people when I've traveled, this is an example of one of those occasions.

Anne Valérie Hash x Vic Riches Design Project

I'm writing this 45 minutes before my deadline for this project... I haven't been to sleep yet (it's 08:46am) but I've drunk so many forms of caffeine I don't think it's going to happen any time soon!

This is the end result of my Self-Initiated at Kingston University. As I mentioned, I got in touch with Théodora Blumkine, a designer at Anne Valérie Hash and went to visit the Fashion House in Paris last weekend! It was so inspiring, and really helped get my designs together.

As well as these boards, I also did fabric samples exploring different textures  and the idea of a Trompe L'oeil 'wet look'.

I'll add more to this later, but I'm too wired/delirious to concentrate. Adobe Illustrator is the best way to fry your brain over night.

Le Comptoir General, Paris, Part 1

In the short time I was in Paris, I tried to squeeze in as many things as possible; mostly thanks to my host Emile Roux! (pictured, left) on Saturday we spent most of the day in this place to dine/drink/generally hang out called Le Comptoir General, hidden off a main street but absolutely worth finding. (I did actually get lost on the way, but thankfully got rescued by Benoît on a motorbike)

After finally arriving, I was like a kid in a theme park! Between taking copious amounts photos and drawing my surroundings, I also made friends with a few my subjects, Thomas Dromer (Middle, with a shock of red hair) and Tom Miranda and his girlfriend, Sheryne (Tom, pictured far right, Sheryne in an illustration to come) now I have plenty of people to visit next time I'm in the city! This series of illustrations are tribute to all those who made my stay so enjoyable. Thank-You!

Anne Valérie Hash in Paris 2

Anne Valérie Hash in Paris

As part of my Self-Initiated work at Kingston University, we are required to design a collection for a Fashion Designer we are strongly influenced by in our own work!

I got in touch with Théodora, a designer from Anne Valérie Hash who agreed for me to continue with the project, and as a thank-you for her participation I did a series of illustrations inspired by the label, which are now sitting on Anne Valérie Hash's desk!

I have just come back from Paris this weekend, and had an amazing time visiting the Fashion House and meeting the design team at A-V-H. It was great to have them review my sketches and to be shown the extensive and beautiful archive of the house's collections!

To see how a Parisian Fashion House operates was an invaluable experience, and I'm so grateful to the people who made my trip possible.

As well as the rest of the A-V-H illustrations, look out for more Paris sketches and the collection I'm working on for the label... posted up soon!