By now you must know we love to celebrate inspiring women and Australia’s own Kerrie Hess has accomplished herself to be revered by the world’s leading fashion houses and fashion journals – Chanel, Vogue, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Harper’s Bazaar and Collette Dinnigan just to name a few. Her most recent collaboration is with cult French beauty brand Lancôme Paris, to honour their 80th anniversary.
Kerrie’s career began as graphic designer which evolved into art direction while dabbling in drawing. Then, in 2008 Hess illustrated the New York Times number one selling book Sex And The City, written by Candace Bushnell. As they say, the rest is fashion history.
Once ‘Sex and the City’ was released I was contacted by TIME magazine in New York to create portraits for them. This was a dream come true and I still can’t believe I work for them.
Following this, I began illustrating for Tiffany & Co, Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Vanity Fair, Italian Vogue, Bergdorf Goodman, Prada. Ironically, at the same time as my work finally took off I had my first baby!! It’s funny, I always tell people that I haven’t really slept since 2006!!
“One of my favourite collaborations has been with Tiffany & Co in New York. I was asked to illustrate their iconic 5th Avenue building filled with chic Tiffany & Co people in the foreground. It was a dream project.
In an interview with Daily Mail UK Kerrie says, “Elegant women in timeless dresses are a key focus of her work”. Her inspiration stems from Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly who are influential characters in her drawings. The Australia born and now Brisbane based artist, lived in Paris for some time and drew much influence from the city of love, which is evident in her work with elegant women in flowing dresses against stunning Parisian backdrops.
Describing her style as intuitive watercolour, Kerrie admits her style has moved on from calligraphy pens to paints and brushes. “I am so much happier in a mess of brushes and paints. I also like to leave out a few details so you can fill them in with your eyes,” Kerrie says.
Ms Hess we salute your accomplishments, your stunning artistry and the preservation and nostalgia of an iconic period.(images: the daily mail UK)
