The FINANCIAL — With his drawing style and colourful illustrations Hayden Williams, 21, a self-taught fashion illustrator and designer, is catching the eye of many.
The FINANCIAL — With his drawing style and colourful illustrations Hayden Williams, 21, a self-taught fashion illustrator and designer, is catching the eye of many.
The London-based illustrator has found a great marketing tool for making his talent visible. His illustrations portray celebrities like the Kardashian sisters, Kate Middleton, Rihanna, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and others. Today his work is used as the profile picture by Rihanna; others are posted by celebrities on their walls. He has fans who believe Hayden to be the next Chanel of the fashion industry. That said however, he told The FINANCIAL that he is not trying to be the next McQueen.
As a child he was inspired by Disney characters, but now Hayden takes inspiration from his muses, who include celebrities like the Olsen Twins, Rihanna and Adele. “Animated female icons such as Jessica Rabbit have influenced my work over the years and she still does,” said Williams. “This frequent drawing of the female form as a youngster was a natural progression into fashion illustration and design as a teen/young adult. My influences/inspirations haven’t changed much, but everything I create now has a much more mature outlook and fashion forward take on things. I love looking at vintage fashion images from the ‘50s for inspiration because women dressed incredibly elegant and classic. I love everything that has a timeless aspect,” he added.
Hayden William merges two lines in this artwork – drawing celebs and creating his own design. As he explains, he loves doing both of them as fashion and pop culture is something that works and flows well together. “I design my own collections via illustration and sometimes I illustrate celebrities/musicians wearing my own creations or I will sketch them in replicas of clothes they have worn in a music video etc. Usually, people can tell when something is my own creation when I place my conjoined ‘H’ and ‘W’ logo on to a belt or bag etc,” said Williams.
His illustrations have not gone unnoticed. Celebrities love seeing themselves in Williams’ illustrations. As Williams say, none of the celebrities have complained at all, it’s all been complimentary and incredibly flattering. Moreover, some of them have become real fans of his.
“Kimora Lee Simmons has seen an illustration I created of her, Jennifer Hudson has commented on my work and most recently, Kim Kardashian posted the illustration I created of her and her sisters on her Instagram. Beyonce’s stylist Ty Hunter shared my design illustration that I created of her with his Twitter followers and also followed me on there,” said Williams.
Most people affiliate Williams and his artwork with pop megastar Rihanna as she has become one of the inspirations for the illustrator. As many others, Rihanna also loved Williams’ illustrations and appreciated his artwork. “She is such a great girl and is incredibly supportive of my illustrations/designs. She wants to see me become a success,” said Williams.
“Our friendship began over Twitter and I even got to meet her last year in October. The affiliation with Rihanna started on Twitter and she has been a fan of my work for a while now. She definitely has an eye for spotting young talent. I could never have predicted that I would be conversing with her on quite a regular basis thanks to social media, but it has all happened very organically. I never force myself on people, especially celebrities. When my work is seen by famous people, it is very effortless and I think that is how it should be! Let them come to you and let your talent do the talking for you,” Williams added.
“I like timeless fashion! Fashion that merges vintage with the present. Classic but still modern enough for the woman of today! A feminine aesthetic is what I favour. I love creating things that are flattering on the female form and look complimentary to it. This is why I love the ‘50s era, because it evokes so much of what I love in fashion. Timeless elegance!”
“I think every brand and label is different and has a different aesthetic. For me personally, I never set out to try too hard to be seen as unique or individual as I think all of those things should come naturally anyway if that is your style. For me, it’s about creating what I think looks great and not following trends or trying too hard to be innovative/edgy. I guess that is what makes me different to some of the young British aspiring designers. I’m not here to try to be the next McQueen, Gareth Pugh or avant-garde in style. I just want to create beautiful wearable clothes that women will want to invest in and wear season after season, year after year.”
Q. Where do you see yourself in the near future?
A. Even though I do everything via illustration, ultimately, the aim is to have my own fashion label one day in the future! I aim to have a team of professionals to help make my vision of the Hayden Williams woman become a reality. I have a strong and clear direction of what I want and the woman I want to dress. This is evident in my illustrations.
Q. What would your advice be to other aspiring young designers or illustrators, in particular in relation to the use of social media?
A. I am learning new things every day and I still have much to learn but I would advise to stay true to your style and create what you love! Be consistent with what you do also! If it’s something you genuinely love doing, that will all come naturally. Use social media productively and to your advantage, and always remain humble!
Social networking is incredibly important for doing business, especially in this day and age! Pretty much everyone uses social media, but not everyone uses it productively. I guess it depends on what you use it for, but I hope that I could be of inspiration to some to use social networking for positive reasons. It’s a great platform and if used correctly, can bring some wonderful things your way!”
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