The fashion industry is a tough nut to crack. However, there are still many talented designers who are motivated by themselves, striving to present their creativity by various materials, and desiring to express their sense of beauty via different ways.
Mag Lee is a fashion designer who carried out her first collection "Summer Crash" to depict the unprecedented long summertime, and also managed an account @lichiaman to share her illustrations.
To her, drawing is a way to express herself more freely and to relieve her stress. Mostly her drawings were images that she thought were the beauty of intuition, and were identified as calm, humorous, and protein.
She had a monomaniac bent on insisting upon creating volume in all the details instead of just focusing on the character in her portraits.
Luckily we invited Mag to share her works and how she takes a break and chill out with us, she drank some ice wine and drew some characters in the background spontaneously.
Let's check out her artworks and photos shot by Over studio in Apartment Store.
-
What made you start exploring the features of people?
Diversities in people are interesting. For example, the height of their eyebrows, the freckles or moles on their skin and the distance between their eyes or the shape of their faces. Those characteristics made everyone an individual. I enjoy observing details, so when drawing I like to emphasize those features.
-
What was the most interesting feedback you got from your client?
Once there was a client who liked her portrait so much that she wanted to wear it as a tattoo, and some of them would want to "adjust" the drawings such as removing their double chin.
-
What elements would you instinctively regard as beauty?
The definition of beauty is elusive, but generally strong concepts attract me. They caught my attention at the first sight, it may be a style, a scene in a movie, or a gesture. For instance, I love Gucci's lookbook, I love the embroidery details and the atmosphere that the designer created!
The same thing goes for the movie Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I drew a picture of all the members immediately after I saw the movie, each of the rules had a strong personality, and they all have a particular style and eccentric look, I had the impulse that I must draw them down!
-
How do you inject humor into your work?
It seems that I tend to give people a calm impression, but actually, I do like to joke a lot. This is one of the features I would like to express in my artworks, that the look seems to be serious but actually, you could still find some delights in them. I put many personalities into my works, such as emphasizing the mole and wrinkles on their faces. Luckily, most of my clients would accept their "new looks". One of my favorite part of the process is to receive their comments such as they think that they look after the portrait though it's a little funny.
-
In addition to being an illustrator, you also have your own fashion label, could you talk about your first season briefly?
My first collection "summer crash" is quite an abstract concept. I took the climate which is getting warmer and warmer as an inspiration and transformed the feel of the temperature into prints on the apparels.
-
Under such stress, where is your favorite spot to grab a drink and chill out?
A Train. I enjoy chilling out in secret sofa spaces, and I like to have some fish and chips while drinking.
-
What is your favorite kind of liquor?
Chardonnay. -
What kind of music would you want to listen to when you're drinking alcohol? Why?
It would be fun if they play mainstream or hip-hop songs in parties so I can dance with my friends, or if it's somewhere quiet I would enjoy electronic and soul music and get a drink.
I often hit the door when I get drunk TT, in Taipei or in clubs in Bangkok.
(But Mag insist that mostly she is super sober)
-
When you are exhausted, what makes you keep on struggling?
Relax for one day and DO NOTHING, and tomorrow it would be a brand new day filled with energy!
- Learn more about Mag: Instagram / Facebook
- Photographer: @silpinpin
- MUA: @hsuvicky
