RED: The Official Colour of Right Now

Blog by London Fashion Illustrator Elyse Blackshaw

"Before the name, there is a feeling. RED. The spark for the creative. The color for the bold.” — i-D

Fashion Illustration by Elyse Blackshaw

I love using red in my work. A red lip, a red background, a red squiggle. As a London fashion illustrator, RED is a regular colour in my palette. The collaboration between i-D and Ray-Ban was an exciting global art competition, and to be honest, an opportunity to be featured on i-D! It was exciting to be selected and showcased amongst other artists across the world, coming together through colour.

The fashion illustration I selected was drawn live at Edward Crutchley's London Fashion Week Fall 2024 show, and was a celebration of the brand's 10th Anniversary. Drawing live is such an amazing experience. To capture atmosphere, energy, music, movement and fashion through marks has such real human connection. In the collection was some hints of red, but not a dominant colour. I chose to bring this out in the background of the artwork. The outcome was this illustration, bold, instinctive and alive.

Whilst RED is a competition theme, to me it’s a way of being bold and unapologetic. As I continue to illustrate fashion’s evolving story, red will always remind me to be authentic.