International fashion illustrator Lindsey Kate is bringing her classic, elegant creative vibe to Crescendo! 2023!
Raised in rural Illinois, the 32-year-old artist is now based in South Florida, some of her renowned clients include Jimmy Choo, Salvatore Ferragamo, Escada, Ted Baker London, LoveShackFancy, Alice + Olivia, Four Seasons Hotel & Spa, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Hugo Boss, Nic + Zoe, Le Chateau, LaCroix, L’Oréal and many others. Her work has been published in a variety of magazines and even on the cover of a book about fashion.
Constantly exploring new techniques and media, this whimsical illustrator tailors the style of every project to fit the unique need of each client. Always aiming to capture the elegance, beauty, and confidence of the human form in her creations, Lindsey Kate finds inspiration within historic illustration, nature and modern art. Part of her success is having a clear understanding of color theory, textiles, construction, fit and concept design, which allows her to effectively illustrate technically accurate designs as well as representative creative fashion figures.
Passionate about bridal illustrations and creative work for publications and advertisements, she loves the range of applications her art has found and enjoys creating projects for personal shoppers, stylists, online retailers, pattern makers, as well as fashion and accessory designers.
We spoke with effervescent Lindsey Kate as the holidays approached to get to know Crescendo! 2023’s guest artist and here are highlights of our conversation.
What sparked your interest in art?
LK: Since I was young, I have always been drawing. I was always drawing dresses. I had that passion and definitely followed it. Throughout high school I took all the advanced art classes I could and went to Columbia College Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fashion design and art history.
What specifically about fashion inspired you?
LK: How day to day you can express your personality through fashion by being creative and artistic. It's dramatic and fun and I just love that each designer has their own style and vibe and that everybody can express themselves differently every day through fashion.
What is Lindsey Kate’s fashion style and vibe?
LK: I'm one of those people who it can change but I would say my go to is Unique Classic. I do wear a lot of black that's like my “go to,” but I love styling it with something bold or dramatic — like a really fun, artsy jewelry piece or really awesome shoes or a cool belt, or scarf.
Speaking of black, the theme for Crescendo! 2023 is Ebony & Ivory ball — so chic black and white, which and you helping us bring it to life through your gorgeous illustrations. As a fashion illustrator can you share some tips on how people might think about channeling the theme?
LK: I would say there's so many ways you could go with that. My advice would be to just express yourself and make it unique with texture or embellishments because there's so many options with black that those little details will really make you stand out.
You have brand clients that span the globe. What is your creative process like?
LK: Each client has different needs and different moods that they want portrayed in their work. My first step is just gathering the full directive from that client and asking questions to get a feel for them. From there, I brainstorm my ideas. I might do some research on the subject if it's something I'm not super familiar with it or if I need some inspiration. And then, I always start sketching. Depending on the project, I might submit sketches or go straight into color. And then take it to my computer to do any last-minute touch ups, submit it to the client, and discuss as needed from there. I would say it's similar for each person but because each project is so different, I think the most important part is getting that first initial communication on what they're looking for. The feeling that they want to portray.
Let's talk about your illustrations for Crescendo! 2023. The first in the series is the Kick Off Lunch event.
LK: Yes! That one is champagne bubbles, energy, fun. The vibe is hanging out with your girls chatting, laughing in fun outfits. I just created them as I went. I tried to go for fun, unique styles that women do when they're just being themselves out having a day with the girls.
Next is the Vintner Dinners. That is a challenging gathering event to capture.
LK: Yes, that one was unique, and I loved working with your marketing team and collaborating on how we could portray that. That was fun. There are small things like the movement of her arm or the movement of the sommelier — just those choices to create movement can suggest a mood and feeling in an illustration.
Finally, the Main Event. Please share a bit about The Couple that you illustrated.
LK: We did something new this year by introducing a male in the graphic so that people could feel welcome to come as a couple and men would feel welcome. We definitely wanted the Main Event couple to look like they're having a good time and I tried to communicate that with their outfits. You'll notice like the feather cuff on her sleeve and the feathers along the train. And then I added a little stripe of white on each side to give her form some movement and then also, to nod to the Ebony & Ivory theme. We wanted them to evoke that the event is going to be a little bit more formal, but I also I wanted to their fashion to be kind of neutral, something that different people could identify with that's not necessarily just one style if that makes sense.
You illustrate for a lot of people in different ways. How do you describe your work? Your artistic style?
I would describe it as elegant with a high fashion vibe. My goal in my illustrations is capturing the elegance, beauty, and confidence of the human form. Usually, it's females, but sometimes it's men and women, which is great. I would say I take like elements from historic illustration, because that's where it all came from, but I like to make it a little bit more modern.
What do you to relax in your free time?
LK: I like to paint. That's very like calming to me. I like abstract painting on canvases and things that's fun. I love being in nature. I love being out on the ocean, hiking, exploring that's probably my favorite thing to do and I find a lot of good inspiration. I have a strong passion for saving the planet and saving the oceans and I volunteer with some with organizations for that.
As an artist, why should people support the arts an organizations like Sinfonia Gulf Coast?
LK: I love the quote that's says, ‘Earth without art is just eh.’ To me, art is a part of people's everyday lives and supporting people that go into those fields is super important because it's a passion and it affects everything down to the tiniest things in our daily lives…. I think that you can make really big changes on important things through art and music. You can change the world. I know that sounds like a little bit dramatic, but like those tiny little things can. It's the creativity behind it. And that's how I think we create changes — through creativity.
Come say hello to Lindsey Kate on February 26 at the Crescendo! Main Event. She will be drawing live illustrated portraits on site at the event. Follow her on Instagram @lindseykateillustration and Facebook @lindseykateillustrations.
