This season, designer labels are drawing the crowds with, well, drawings.
These are no Mickey Mouse cartoons, mind you.
Instead, well known artists were roped in by at least five luxury brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton to lend a whimsical touch to everything from clothes and shoes to luggage and make-up.
American pop artist Richard Prince, 59, turned Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2008 collection into a colourful romp down the runway with jokes and cartoons silkscreened onto the clothes.
French graffiti artist Fafi decorated the packaging for MAC's spring make-up collection with three characters called Fafinettes.
And Taiwanese-American illustrator James Jean's dreamy drawings on Prada's bags and shoes have proved a big hit with the fashion set.
Dubbed the 'fairy bag', the cervo lux print handbag features sketches of two girls amid a fantasy backdrop.
It drew so much buzz before its launch last month that the tote has been flying off the shelves.
Prada Singapore says the four pieces it brought in have been snapped up, and there are currently about 20 customers on the waitlist. Each bag costs $3,420.
So covetable is the bag that forums such as The Purse Forum have bag lovers swopping updates on which stores they have spotted the bag in.
In a Feb 21 posting titled How To Get The Elusive Prada Fairy Bag, New York Magazine's fashion blog The Cut shared that the Prada store in New York's 57th Street gets only five Fairy bags every two weeks, and the only way for a fashionista to get her hands on one is to go down in person and pay for the bag in advance.
More is in store: A clutch ($1,940), pouch ($970) and wedge sandals ($1,420) with Jean's drawings are expected to arrive in Prada stores soon.
The 29-year-old artist was also behind the romantic backdrop for Prada's Art Nouveau-inspired spring/summer 2008 runway show in Milan last September, and created the concept for Trembled Blossoms, the Italian label's latest animated short film.
Miu Miu, the sister line of Prada aimed at a younger clientele, also featured illustrations in its latest ready-to-wear collection.
Tunics and skirts became the canvas for Swedish illustrator Liselotte Watkins' colourful harlequin drawings.
Watkins, 36, was also commissioned to illustrate Roberto Cavalli's limited-edition collection for Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M's ad campaign when it was launched last November.
Louis Vuitton is believed to have launched the craze for cutesy drawings on pricey covetables when it partnered Japanese artist Takashi Murakami in 2003.
His creations - multi-coloured LV logos and smiling faces on cherries and flowers - took the fashion world by storm.
For spring/summer 2008, Louis Vuitton's creative director Marc Jacobs teamed up with Prince to inject novelty into the collection.
Prince, known for appropriating images from popular culture, silkscreened jokes onto Louis Vuitton bags and coloured them in vibrant shades of yellow, pink and blue.
Some designs also featured quirky cartoons either embroidered onto the bags or silkscreened onto the clothes.
Lanvin's new 22 Faubourg collection, a lower-priced line of basic wear, also boasts drawing power.
Israeli designer Alber Elbaz, 47, who was appointed artistic director of the French label in 2001, sketched the images on the T-shirts, totes and luggage himself.
Lanvin Singapore brought in two pieces of the luggage, which cost $3,999 each, in January and two customers in the know snapped them up even before they hit the shelves.
Two of the three T-shirt designs, priced from $499 to $799, have also sold out while the bags, at $1,299 each, are selling quickly.
Lyn Chan, marketing director of Lanvin Singapore, says of their appeal: 'The illustrated designs are very personalised as Elbaz did the drawings himself.
'They are also unique and casual, and showcase another aspect of the house of Lanvin.'
New illustrated bags and T-shirts drawn by Elbaz for 22 Faubourg's fall/winter 2008 range will hit stores end June.
It roped in graffiti artist Fafi to design the packaging for its limited-edition make-up collection for spring this year.
The result: three new Fafinette characters that adorn MAC's compacts, lipsticks and lipgloss, priced from $27 to $59.
The collaboration is a win-win venture for both brands and artists.
Fafi, who is in her 30s, told Urban when she visited Singapore during the make-up launch two weeks ago: 'I don't want to stay in a museum. I think it is very modern for us artists to be mixed with the brands and to be worn by people.
'Our works are not there just to be looked at, they are also meant to be used and lived in.'
MIU MIU
LOUIS VUITTON
MAC
Swedish illustrator Liselotte Watkins, 36, splashed her harlequin illustrations all over tunics and skirts in Miu Miu's spring/summer 2008 collection. Prices from $2,050 to $4,840. Miu Miu is also bringing in a range of T-shirts at $560 each.
Gazarre Donna Arlecchino tunic, $2,050, and skirt, $1,500, from Miu Miu, 02-45/46 Paragon
American artist Richard Prince, 59, silkscreened jokes onto Louis Vuitton bags and coloured them in vibrant shades of yellow, pink and blue.
Some of his designs also feature quirky cartoons on them, like this jersey top. In line with LV's creative director Marc Jacob's peek-a-boo theme for the season, Prince's illustration on this top can be seen only through the pink and purple gauze.
Other items from the Richard Prince collection currently in store include the monogram joke bags and monogram pulp bags. To check prices and availability, call 6788-3888.
Comic print silk jersey top, price unavailable, from Louis Vuitton, 01-20 Ngee Ann City
French graffiti artist Fafi, who is in her 30s, created three characters known as Fafinettes for the packaging of MAC's spring make-up collection. The drawings adorn the compacts, lipsticks and lipglosses. Last we heard, this line is selling out fast.
Eyeshadow palette ($59), lipstick ($28), lipglass ($27) and iridescent pressed powder ($37), from MAC counters at B1-36 Ngee Ann City, Tangs Orchard and Tangs VivoCity, Isetan Scotts and Robinsons Raffles City
LONGCHAMP
PRADA
LANVIN 22 FAUBOURG
The concept behind Dutch photographer and fashion illustrator Robert Wagt's original illustrations for Longchamp is a comic strip about the life of a fashion victim visiting Paris, New York and St Tropez.
This range of bags, launched in Janury, come in six different sizes and three colours, including one clutch and five totes in different sizes. Prices range from $118 to $447.
Le Pliage Bande Dessinee tote, $447, from Longchamp, 02-08 Paragon, Level 2, Takashimaya and Level 2, Robinsons The Centrepoint
Taiwanese-American artist James Jean's dreamy illustrations of girls amid a fantasy backdrop has made this the It bag of the season.
It is currently sold out in Singapore. Other items that will hit stores soon include a pouch, clutch and wedge shoes.
Alber Elbaz, 47, the artistic director of Lanvin, sketched the illustrations on the T-shirts, tote bags and luggage trolley for the brand's newly launched diffusion line. Only one T-shirt design and a few tote bags are left in the store here but new pieces are expected for the fall/winter 2008 collection. Prices range from $499 to $1,299.
22 Faubourg Ladies Tee, $729, from Lanvin, 02-47 Wisma Atria
This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Mar 6, 2008.
