The magic of fashion

I'm often asked who my favourite artists are. Usually, it isn't other painters or illustrators who immediately spring to mind.

I love to draw inspiration from other art forms, and one of my favourites is fashion.

Yesterday, I went to see the film Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, directed by Lorna Tucker.

I was blown away.

Such inspiration! The epitome of eccentricity, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has blazed straight through the cutting edge - literally, at one point, in a tank. Now aged 76, she is turning her terrifying energy and blunt demeanour towards saving the planet. 

Westwood has said that she has 'behaved like a pirate, plundering ideas and colours from other places and periods.'

Watching the film took me back to my student days, when I was studying theatre design – an art form that borrows from sculpture, architecture, art installation, painting and fashion. Perhaps it is this training that has stuck with me – the idea that inspiration can be lurking around every corner, if you know how to keep your eyes open.

Pearl