Hossein Borojeni is a fashion illustrator working for the luxury industry and press, whose art blends high fashion, classical beauty, and minimalistic style. Although based between Paris and Nice, Hossein travels all around the world, invited by various brands to their private events, creating live fashion illustrations from wherever seems alluring. “One day my desk is the Petit Palais in Paris, another — Metropole Monte-Carlo,” smiled Hossein.
Indeed, we caught the artist on a busy week: as we spoke, Hossein was preparing to spend the evening working in Monaco, before flying over to Paris to attend a Dior event the next day. At such events, not only Hossein captures the newly presented products in an elegant style, but also leaves the guests with exclusive drawings — a gift that contains beautiful memories.
The other side of Hossein’s work is illustration for fashion magazines and press, for example Elle Magazine and L’Officiel. Among the brands that Hossein has collaborated with are Hermès, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, et al.
Born into a family of artists, Hossein has been surrounded by paints and brushes since early childhood, trying his hand at drawing on the walls of his parents’ house and in the art school where they taught. Despite his artistic roots, it took Hossein nearly a decade of working in industrial design — a discipline he studied in college in Paris — before he found his way back to where his heart belongs.
“I was never a fashion victim,” revealed Hossein. “But what has always interested me in art is the human figure. The exemplary period of artists’ fascination with the human body is antiquity. While Renaissance masters developed that tradition, modern and contemporary art has largely neglected the human figure in favour of conceptualism and abstraction.
Where I, however, rediscovered the attention to the human figure is in fashion.” Becoming a fashion illustrator, thus, allowed Hossein to combine his love for art and human beauty, while also earning a living. “To me, Kate Moss is the new Venus de Milo,” said the creator.
Being fascinated by the human figure, Hossein has largely collaborated with various dance companies, including a dance school in San Francisco, The Paris Opera, Cabaret Lido, and Moulin Rouge. The drawing for the last one playfully reflects on the cabaret’s name depicting the red dress in the shape of a windmill. “Model is incredibly important,” claimed the artist. “You can be the most talented artist, but if the subject of your work is not inspiring to you, it simply won’t work.” Notably, Hossein has also made drawings of watches and jewellery, working with such brands as Patek Philippe, Tiffany, and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Hossein’s main working principle is “Less is More”. “I’m not the only creator of the painting,” said Hossein, “so are the viewer, and the model.” “The white of the paper is the most beautiful thing because it leaves space for the spectator’s imagination. I am a drawer, not a painter: I want my work to be alive, I want it to encourage the viewer to interact with it and to complete it in their unique way.” In addition, “the less I draw, the more spontaneous the picture is. I let the materials play with each other, while I try to follow them” explained Hossein. The artist works primarily with ink and watercolours and uses cotton paper for the best results. He also employs golf leaf in his black-and-white paintings to achieve classy glamour.
The next big potential project for Hossein will go beyond the frame of paper: “I may have an apartment ceiling to paint,” disclosed Hossein. “My vision for it would be to draw the inspiration from the Renaissance art, but make it more contemporary, more actual. I’d make the angels more fashionable,” said the artist. One of Hossein’s dream projects is to do a book with a fashion brand, narrating its history through illustration, rather than photographs. “Each page would have a drawing on it,” said Hossein. In accordance with the illustrator’s passion that is so prominent in his current work, “the book would unite art and fashion.”
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Article edit by Anastasia Fedosova
LinkedIn: Anastasia Fedosova