Clockwise from top left: Miu Miu, my illustration, Prada, Marni

As an illustrator, I endlessly drift into the fashion world for inspiration, and am always concerned with how it's relationship with art is going. With a fear for my medium's dwindling usage, I am delighted to see the fashion pack move tentatively back into the realm of pencils and crayons. While photography has been the dominant means of communication for decades, illustration retains a historical link with fashion, which is hopefully too strong to be erased. In a culture which is beginning to fight back against faceless computer generated imagery and mass production, illustration represents a nostalgia for all things personal, crafty and meaningful.

Fortunately, designers seem to be catching on to this and collaborating with illustrators to add new dimensions to their designs. From the quirky watercolour monsters of Marni's S/S07 t-shirts to Miuccia Prada's collaboration with Swedish illustrator Liselotte Watkins for both Prada and Miu Miu (the enchanted fairies and playful, theatrical harlequins were integral to the respective moods of each show), the artist's pen is slowly scratching its way onto the runway. In addition, there is more and more illustration being used in advertising and fashion publishing, particularly in magazines like Lula, Androgyny Magazine and Amelia's. As a result, the medium is becoming associated with fresh and edgy design and modern story telling. Hopefully this will encourage designers to experiment with new illustrators and end the monopoly that Julie Verhoevan and David Downton have on fashion illustration. And Miuccia, if you are reading this, I am available...

Words and artwork by Katy Smail. (http://www.fashion156.com/blog/)