Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

Gisela Balestrini is a fashion illustrator who has created a unique style for all her girls. The girls she illustrated all have one specific characteristic: they all have unproportional long legs. If you want to understand why she likes to create this image of a woman, you will have to read the following interview I have with her. Swide readers, today I present you Gisela Balestrini.

  

M: Hello Gisela, it’s my pleasure to feature you on Swide this week. Would you mind to tell me why did you want to become an illustrator? 

G: I started my professional career when I was studying fashion design. During that time, I realized I was a terrible perfectionist after all those long hours illustrating the large collections presentations. I fell much more in love with illustration when I could use it as a tool to express the feelings and emotions that came from the deeper inside of me.

  

M: Yes, illustrations can totally reflect the artist’s feelings and emotions and this is probably why your illustrations are unique. How will you describe your illustration style? Does your cultural background help you to develop unique style?  

G: I think my illustration style is feminine & glamorous. Even though you can totally imagine how the garments look like in real life, I like to show them in a world of impossible long legs ladies. It is like “Hyperrealism” but in an ideal stylization. I like to create a reality which doesn’t exist, but seems to be true.

  

I think studying Fashion Design helped me to develop an interest in the Fashion world…but there are so many things that influence me every day. I’m passionately curious and  love to collect things such as postcards (even though I’ve never sent nor received anyone), pins (I’ve never used), illustrators, photographer websites’ bookmarks, and any other artists’ works that move me. To sum this up, I am an image collector. I like to walk on the streets and photograph things I think will use later on my illustrations, (even though probably in the end I don’t use them). I like buying books, even though I have not finished a lot of them yet (I like the word “Yet”). I love to look for “an engine” every day, something which moves and inspires me. I love to find something which defines me everyday, such as a word, a phrase.  I like to get born to something new every day.

  

M: Just like you, I am also an image collector which I will constantly look for art works that inspire me. It is a very addictive hobby! So I find that many of your illustrations the girls have unproportional long legs, is there a particular reason why you illustrate them in this way?

G: I like to create a world of idealized long leg ladies because I like to illustrate the feminine and glamorous side of the woman. I think woman’s legs and hair are the main feminine features, so through my unproportional stylization, I like the viewers’ eyes to focus on those parts when looking at my illustration.

M: I have to agree legs and hair are the parts that can best represent a woman. Out all of the works you have done so far, which piece can best define you as an illustrator? Why? 

G: The piece which can best define me would be the image below . You can see that her hair has created a phrase in Spanish and it read as “You are invited to my party” in English. The reason why I choose this piece is because it’s  full of details and creativity (specially in the way her hair speaks for her).

M: That one is a very interesting piece as I rarely see illustrators use hair to create words. Last but not least, which piece would you choose from the F/W 2011 collection if you had a chance to illustrate an editorial illustration for Dolce & Gabbana? Why?

G: I would love to illustrate all the Dolce & Gabbana collections, but if you ask me for one editorial illustration, I think I would choose this one.

The reason behind this is because it shows how lively, glamorous, decisive, sensual, and sparkling the collection is.

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Credits - Gisela Balestrini

 

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