Mode

This collection brings together the fashion work in our catalogue, vintage fashion plates, illustration, and elegant figure studies, in one place. It is a subject with a long pedigree, and the prints here lean on that history while keeping a contemporary edge.

What this collection brings together

Fashion illustration has its own long tradition, and this collection draws on it directly. The vintage plates, including French series such as Costumes Parisiens, were drawn to show cut, drape, and silhouette with a clarity photography rarely matched at the time. Their flat colour and confident line still look modern today. Sitting beside them are newer illustrated figures and portraits that carry the same attention to styling and pose. Together they make a selection about how people dress and present themselves, rendered by hand rather than photographed. If the historical material is what appeals, much of it overlaps with our vintage and vintage posters collections, which share the same period feel and palette.

Choosing format and frame

Fashion illustration is built on line and flat colour, which is why it tends to look its best as a fine art print on paper, where edges stay crisp and the palette stays clean and saturated. Canvas can work for the more painterly figure studies that carry visible brushwork and texture, lending them a softer, warmer feel. Fine art paper is available in A3, 50×70cm, 70×100cm and A0, with canvas in 30×40cm, 50×70cm and 70×100cm. Oak and black frames keep the look graphic and contemporary, which suits the bolder plates, while walnut brown leans into the vintage character of the older illustrations and warms up a dressing room or bedroom.

Styling and where it works

Fashion prints suit dressing areas, bedrooms, and entry walls, anywhere a touch of elegance and personality earns its place. A trio of vintage plates hung in a row reads as a considered set, the kind of detail that lifts a walk-in wardrobe or a hallway, while a single bold figure study holds a wall on its own above a console or dressing table. The work pairs easily with portraiture, so many customers combine these with our portrait and illustration collections to build a wall around people, style, and character. Mixed that way, the result feels personal and collected rather than purely decorative, a small statement of taste in the rooms where you get ready for the day. Hung thoughtfully, even one or two of these prints can set the tone for a whole room.