Breakfast with Iconic Megan Hess at My Bookshop by Corrie Perkin
The World Loves Melbourne attended a stunning Q&A breakfast event at leading My Bookshop by Corrie Perkin with renowned fashion illustrator Megan Hess to celebrate the launch of her new book, Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon.
Megan is an international fashion illustrator who works with some of the most prestigious fashion designers and luxury brands around the world, such as Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Montblanc and Tiffany and Co.
- She drew prolifically as a child; on weekends, sketches of classmates and doodling while on the phone
- She has always loved art and drawing
- Megan never considered being a fashion illustrator as a career when she was younger
- She was encouraged from the positive feedback of people she drew
- Megan studied graphic design; a discipline that helped her as she branched out
- She worked in various design agencies to begin with
- Breakthrough came when Megan worked at Liberty Dept Store in London - she was able to launch her first fashion illustrator campaign
- It was a risk to leave safe employment to follow her dreams and passion
- Some 80% of work given to Megan in the early days she didn't want to do; including a horse manual!
- Megan became protective over her brand; only doing the jobs she wanted to do
- Doors opened with clients such as Italian Vogue
- A huge breakthrough was when she was commissioned for the covers of books by Candace Bushnell (author behind Sex in the City)
- Megan Hess illustrations began to appear in Vanity Fair and Vogue
- She saw her work become global; such as on posters in Times Square
- Megan refused to compromise her brand; sometimes turning down 20 jobs at once because they weren't the right "fit"
- Megan loves to work with creative teams; the challenge of the artistic!
Megan Hess has again excelled with her latest book Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon; a book thatis somewhat biographical and an inspiration for those pursuing their dreams and interested in fashion and design. And it's an incredible insight into the life of icon Coco Chanel! The book is also reasonably priced and the perfect Christmas gift! Needless to say it is full of beautiful illustrations.
Copies can be purchased from My Bookshop by Corrie Perkin, Melbourne's leading bookshop.
Corrie spoke to us about the changes to My Bookshop by Corrie Perkin at 430 Toorak Road - it's based on a Northern European model of a concept store. She has created a beautiful environment bringing in a cafe and gallery space. Corrie has reinvented the bookshop! Her upstairs area has become something of a community space with free wifi. It's spectacular! She is able to say that the bookshop is a huge success with high demand for books in this digital age. Corrie has a fabulous relationship with Hardie Grant, the publishers of Megan's book.
