At 19 years old, and still in first year university in Sydney, fashion illustrator
Caitlin Shearer has been picked up by French label
Tricolore to illustrate a T-shirt for their upcoming summer range.
It’s hardly a surprise. Her fashion
illustrations of quirky heavy-browed lasses are delightful and just perfect for application to big flat surfaces like bags and T-shirts as well as canvases of course.
“My girls and boys in my paintings are inspired by my friends and myself, a young
Winona Ryder, and gorgeous girls on
livejournal who post their daily outfits,” says Caitlin.
While she insists that fashion’s just one part of her work, Shearer is quite definite about her own fashion aesthetic.
“If I’ve got the right dress on, I can take over the world! I dress to suit my body shape. I’ve got a fascination with dresses that are shaped in the 50's style, with cinched waists and little sleeves. And I do not wear pants! My style is like Shirley Temple crossed with Anne Frank. I wear a lot of black, a lot of puffy sleeves, and at the moment I am fond of snake jewellery.”
The illustrator makes lots of her own clothes, and scours
ebay and car boot sales for
vintage fashion bargains. Her favourite labels are Erin Fetherston, Gail Sorronda,
Luella and
Chloe but if she had to chose one label for the rest of her life, it would be her very own designs. "Creations by Caitlin. haha! Then I couldn't be restricted at all!"
Buy your own lovely piece of Caitlin's work on
etsy.