The stars aligned when Bijou Karman chose her career path. Having graduated from Art Center College of Design with a BFA in Illustration, her job now consists of two of her greatest passions: illustration and fashion. “I’ve been into drawing since I was a little kid,” she told Matter of Hand. “I think that fashion was important to me growing up; I was more interested in clothes than in drawing.”
“Eventually, something clicked and illustration became a major passion of mine,” she notes. “I realized that I could combine the two things that I am passionate about.” Based in Los Angeles, Karman is both an illustrator and designer, with her illustrations almost entirely dedicated to trends and the people who follow them.
Fashion, and specifically runway shows, also provide Karman with an endless source of inspiration. “I’ll take a runway image and create a whole story of who the girl is and where she would be,” she says. “I then place her in that situation within my illustration. That’s where a lot of my pieces start.”
But as most fashionistas know, more often than not, it’s not clothes that make the man but rather the opposite. Styling is also important, as well as choices of color and composition. “My work is not about trends at all,” says Karman, “that doesn’t interest me. If anything I like clothes that are more retro.”