Sharjah (UAE) – International bestselling fashion illustrator Megan Hess was overjoyed by the reception she received at the 41st Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).
The Australian fashion illustrator is renowned for her work with high-fashion designers and luxury brands.
Hess creates her glamorous couture work with a custom-made Montblanc pen which she affectionately calls Monty.
The trip to the UAE came as welcome relief after the stop-start of in-person events related to Covid-19 restrictions.
Hess said that the hustle and bustle of her busy schedule sometimes takes up so much of her time that she hardly interacts with her readers.
“The funny thing is, as an author, you spend a lot of time on just working on the books in the studio,” she said Thursday.
“So you almost forget that people will be in a bookstore and pick it up and then take it home and read it because you’re just working on them all the time.
“And then when I travel and I go to different countries, from London to New York to Sharjah, and then you actually meet people who have bought the books, who’ve read your books or seen the books, it’s amazing. It’s an honour.”
Hess’ skills have been deployed by Bergdorf Goodman, New York, to create a signature look for the prestigious department store.
Her work has also been commissioned by Harrods of London to create a bespoke bag collection for the iconic British department store.
Hess’ bestselling fashion books and beloved Claris series for children have sold over a million copies worldwide.
She was destined to draw and has definitely come full circle in her professional life from where she started.
An initial career in graphic design transcended into art direction for some of the world’s leading advertising agencies and Art Direction for Liberty Department store in London.
After working in graphic design and art direction, she has illustrated numerous bestselling books and illustrated for fashion shows such as Christian Dior Couture.
Her prestigious clients include magazines Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and Harper’s Bazaar. She also does work for fashion houses Chanel, Dior, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and jewelers Cartier and Tiffany & Co.
Hess said it was tricky to explain in one phrase what she does because there were so many different things that she worked on at once.
“I’ve now narrowed it to I’m an artist, so I draw and I draw for different things and I guess I’m also an author and I create books, so I’m an artist-author. That’s how I would describe it,” she said.
“I’ve found a place within books that I love to create. And so I hope tonight, after the talk, anyone who hears it can discover the children’s books that I work on and what is special about them and what I hope people take from the children’s books and then the fashion books that I work on.
“I hope that there’s something that people who have an interest or love in fashion can discover those books as well.”
