Londoner Erin Petson is considered an icon in the field of fashion illustration. With collaborative clients including Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham, Vogue, Dior and Elle, she is currently in Australia during Spring Carnival as a guest of MYER Fashions On The Field where four of her unique illustrations of designs by Alex Perry, Aurelio Costarella, Yeojin Bae and Jayson Brunsdon will be unveiled. Here she talks about her turning art from a hobby into a career, her big Selfridge’s moment and why she should have started a pension when she picked up her first paintbrush!
RESCU: What did art offer you as a teenager growing up in England?
Erin Petson: Art offered me a sense of self and it was certainly an outlet for some teenage angst. I grew up in a fairly working class town in the North East of England. I chose to go to Art school when I was 16 and it felt like home to me. I was very happy there.
I studied fashion design, fine art, and ceramics… I absolutely loved it, however in Fashion Design it was the illustration aspect that most attracted me.
RESCU: When did you realise that you could create a career from this passion?
Erin Petson: I had exceptional tutors at my Art School in Liverpool and they believed in me which was lovely, so I left there quietly driven to succeed in illustration. In my final graduate show in London I was lucky to have some press in the Creative Review and my work was published in a lovely fashion illustration book. I thought after that, I’ll give illustration a go in London and see what happens and slowly slowly I attracted regular clients from around the world.
RESCU: What is the difference between dipping into art as a hobby and honing it into a career?
Erin Petson: Art as a career is a full time business that needs a lot of nurturing, time management, goal planning and money. I love my job so; yes I wanted to make my hobby a successful business that supported me.
RESCU: What was your first big break in the beauty/fashion industry?
Erin Petson: I had a small exhibition in Selfridges after I graduated from university in one of their cafe’s on the women’s fashion floor. This was a wonderful opportunity because during that time I was invited to do some freelance visual merchandising, which was great. I worked for Selfridges in their windows team on and off and for a couple of years. For their Atelier windows scheme, I was given two windows to illustrate in within their Manchester store. I had my name in vinyl on the front windows, and my Artwork drawn onto the walls and on a canvas, it was a wonderful break for me!
RESCU: How do you align your vision with that of a fashion designer or a beauty brand creator?
Erin Petson: I find that meeting a client in person or via Skype always helps to create a good visual brief. It’s much easier to convey a brand by seeing it, feeling it and by having a look at the environment its displayed in and sold. Having as much visual information as possible helps me however sometimes its fun to come up with a concept without knowing much about the brand at all purely from an intuitive perspective.”
RESCU: What has been a major ‘Pinch Yourself’ moment when working with a particular designer? Can you tell us about it?
Erin Petson: I worked with an Italian luxury brand called Loro Piana on lot’s of sketches for a commercial project. I flew over to Milan for an induction into the company. I spent a few days visiting their famous textile factories in a special region of Italy, I saw where they dyed their cashmere, it was a pinch yourself moment seeing all of this as they sell most of the luxury fabrics to the top fashion houses in Paris.
RESCU: On the eve of your trip to Melbourne for Myer Fashions On the Field, did you ever see your career becoming global? How does this feel?
Erin Petson: It feels very good! I’m over the moon to be here, it’s very special indeed. It a dream job to have completed the drawings and to now be here for the fun bit too.
RESCU: What are you excited about seeing within Australian fashion within your time in Melbourne?
Erin Petson: I love the fashion scene here in Melbourne, its great to pop into all of the boutiques in Fitzroy and view the Australian labels and also I love to check out the street style. I loved popping into MYER to have a look at their Australian designers collection. It had such an array of stunning pieces including some of the pieces I had illustrated.
I’m a judge for the MYER fashion on the field competition so I’m excited about discovering some inspiring race looks.
RESCU: What did you wish you knew then about your career that you know now?
Erin Petson: Marketing and business knowledge is an important part of my job. I wish that someone had given me some guidance on that. You have to be the best you can be at your job because putting high quality work out there benefits everyone, and also be open to your career evolving and flowing in different directions.
RESCU: What would be your advice for an artist that is aspiring to turn their talent into a tangible career?
Erin Petson: My advice would be to really know the business you are going into. Figure out how much money you ideally need to make, to support yourself financially. List your ideal and dream clients, intern at companies that work with illustrators for example advertising agencies, magazines and designers and it helps to know how to approach potential clients. I don’t advocate working for free but perhaps when you are starting out sometimes books and magazines will publish your work and then you have a commercial piece of work for your portfolio. Find out about mentors and charities that can support you, never give up on your dreams and never rest on your laurels.
RESCU: Do you have a career/life mantra that you live by?
Erin Petson: I am healthy, I am happy and I love my job!
RESCU: Do you think women can have it all when it comes to career, travel and family?
Erin Petson: Oh gosh, yes and no. Some women have the perfect job of being the best mum in the world and that’s everything they need. I love my job so I will try to incorporate family, work and travel. I think there is enough pressure on women to have it all and to be perfect. I admire women who seem have it all tremendously, I think Victoria Beckham, and Angelina are doing quite well.
RESCU: There has been a great endearment towards illustrators recently. Why do you think there is such a love for the sketched image? Is this in response to such a technologically charged world of images?
Erin Petson: I believe there will always be a love for the sketched image; it’s a very soulful practice. Computers are amazing tools but you can’t beat the hand gestured mark making of an individual, the weight of the mark made by the pencil – it’s a wonderful hand made aesthetic.
RESCU: What piece of advice would you give Erin of ten years ago?
Erin Petson: I’d explain that social media is the future, get a blog, learn how to make websites and start a pension, Ha!
Image credit: Erin Petson instagram
