Francois Berthoud: Fashion, Fetish and Fantasies

Francois Berthoud is a renowned fashion illustrator and art director known for his expressive drip paintings, linocuts, and computer graphics. He has worked for prestigious fashion brands and has a distinct style that combines eroticism with conceptual art. His work is celebrated for its depth and elegance, and he is considered a leading figure in the fashion industry.

Format: Hardback
Length: 408 pages
Publication date: 15 November 2022
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Francois Berthoud, a renowned artist, is celebrated for his painstakingly created linocuts and meticulously arranged drip paintings. His expressive works have adorned the covers of countless fashion magazines and advertising campaigns for the world's most esteemed and sought-after fashion brands, including Yves-St-Laurent, Bulgari, Chanel, Givenchy, Sonia Rykiel, and Prada. Through his art, Berthoud delves into the conceptual realm of fashion, maintaining a delicate balance between the edge of eroticism, which he considers paramount. Emerging as a prominent fashion illustrator and art director in the 1980s, Berthoud's distinct style was early championed by the legendary Anna Piaggi, a prominent figure in the avant-garde publication Vanity, published by Conde Nast. Piaggi praised Berthoud for his ability to illustrate fashion in a formal and decorative manner, while simultaneously delving deep into the subject matter with an elegant sense of detachment. She noted that Berthoud recreates his designs in his atelier-laboratory, experiencing fashion with a sharp sense of irony and a visual culture rooted in conceptual art.

While Berthoud's style remains timeless, he has gained recognition for his romantic fashion illustrations and for his exploration of erotica. He was the illustrator for Betony Vernon's The Boudoir Bible, where the two genres often intersect. The book, featuring essays by Chris Dercon and Daniele Barbieri, concludes with a conversation with Francois Berthoud, transcribed by Christian Ka?mmerling.

Weight: 3928g
Dimension: 299 x 340 x 53 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780847870899