Mason’s client list reads like a roster of fashion royalty: Gucci, Dior, Rabanne, Louis Vuitton. Courtesy the artist

With fashion’s constant churn, it’s easy to lose sight of the art buried underneath it all. Add to that an industry increasingly shaped by big corporations and capitalism’s relentless appetite, and what was once a space for artistic dreaming is slowly disappearing. But not for Scott W Mason. Scattered across the London-based illustrator’s studio are drawings with smooth lines and vibrant colors depicting everything from Emma Chamberlain’s and Cardi B’s 2026 Met Gala looks to runway looks from the avant-garde Schiaparelli that were featured in the “Fashion Becomes Art” exhibit at the V&A Museum.

His work involves capturing fashion’s biggest moments and translating them to paper with his distinctive visual language—abstract, spontaneous, energetic and confident. Inspirations such as Gustav Klimt and fashion illustration pioneer Tony Viramontes shine through in the flamboyant palette of a gown or the dynamic figures who carry a slash of red lips confidently. His client list reads like a roster of fashion royalty: Gucci, Dior, Rabanne and Louis Vuitton. While collections and products come and go, what Mason puts to paper stays. It’s his way of preserving the industry’s artistry, one drawing at a time.

Mason’s take on a look by Schiaparelli featured in the “Fashion Becomes Art” Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Courtesy the artist

Ahead of New York Fashion Week and its London counterpart, Observer sat down with Mason to discuss creative freedom, his anti-perfection approach to sketching, escapism, the misconception that a fashion illustrator must be a designer and resisting the siren song of A.I. in a world increasingly ruled by it. Along the way, he opened up about what it means to fall out of love with drawing only to fall in love with it all over again.

You’re based in London, working now with some of the biggest fashion houses in the world. But how did your path into illustration begin? Were you trained formally as an artist, or did your approach develop more intuitively?

I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember, but one of my earliest memories is being on the ferry to the Isle of Wight with a brand new sketchpad and pens. I was more excited about them than the holiday. Drawing has always been something in my life, but funnily enough my grade for art in school was pretty bad, then I fell out of love with drawing during college and focused more on photography. I still drew out my photoshoot ideas but never considered them illustrations; then I went on to study fashion photography at university but fell back in love with drawing in my first year after realizing I’m an awful photographer. I ended up combining my love of capturing fashion with my love of drawing and started focusing on fashion illustration. But I’ve never actually studied illustration; it’s just something that I’ve enjoyed and kept coming back to over the years.

Looking back, what were the formative environments for your style? Studios, galleries, street life, fashion shows or something else entirely?

I think it’s just a big old mix of everything, I used to draw comics when I was a teenager which was a bootcamp in drawing anything and everything, when I first attended fashion week I wanted to draw the shows and street style, but you have to be super quick or it’s gone, so that’s made my work looser and more energetic. I’m always really nosy in art galleries, sticking my head right up close to paintings to observe all the brush strokes, which has led to a more painterly style. So my style has just been something that’s evolved and changed over years of different experiences and environments.

With so many moments and collections, fashion provides constant change and motion. Does that make it an ideal subject for drawing?

For sure. You’ve got this constant conveyor belt of inspiration, from red carpets, music videos, fall, spring, resort, couture collections. If you don’t feel inspired, you only need to wait a day for something new to spark inspiration, then you’ve got all the classic collections and decades of shows to research, so you’re never bored. But the constant influx of collections can make your head spin, that’s why I sketch so much because it’s the only way I feel like I can keep up with it, I only end up painting very few looks as there just wouldn’t be enough time.

Scott W Mason, Rachel Sennott in Marc Jacobs for the Met Gala. Courtesy the artist

Your sketches carry a lot of energy, they are bold and whimsical. When you are drawing, are you thinking about form and structure, or is it more about rhythm and movement?

With a structured garment, when drawing it I can see the finished illustration in my head and it’s just a case of sketching the important elements down on paper and leaving out anything inessential. Other times, if I’m drawing a flowing gown or something with movement, it’s like you’re trying to capture a moment so I’ve no idea what the next stroke is going to be, I’m figuring it out as I go along and that’s when the rhythm and movement are more important and you’re trying to find the form within it.

Our culture tends to be obsessed with perfection. Do you ever deliberately allow a drawing to be “imperfect” in order to preserve its energy?

Definitely! Most of the time I don’t bother erasing any lines in a sketch, it’s natural to want to make everything look perfect and effortless like you drew everything right the first time, but I remember going to the National Portrait Gallery and out of all the hundreds of paintings in there the one that truly stuck with me was this unfinished canvas tucked up in a high corner; there’s something so interesting in being able to see the process. Tony Viramontes, who is one of my favorite illustrators, has an illustration where he repeatedly tried drawing someone’s nose, there are three or four attempts where he’s tried to redraw and capture it, and they’re all left in. I feel like it’s nothing to hide away, even on a Janet Jackson song there’s a part where she goes “Oh I didn’t quite hit the note” and tries again. I love that sort of breaking of the fourth wall. The essence of something is far more important than the accuracy of it and if you start reworking everything to be flawless, you’ll end up with this collage of perfection that lacks any real soul or effort.

Mason sketched pieces in the Dior Cruise 2027 show. Courtesy the artist

When you are drawing, what does your eye choose to hold onto and translate to the paper?

I always think of my drawings like Jenga, the feeling of removing everything unneeded until you’re left with just the essentials and you’re on the cusp of it all toppling over into nothing. I think because of my fashion photography background I still look at the garment from a place of it being shown for sale, so I’ll have a checklist in my head about what is needed to be depicted, the structure, the shape of the collar, the pocket placement, the hem, and I work through it and make sure everything essential is shown without having to repeat myself or add in anything unnecessary. A lot of my work is really abstract but I still hope you get a fundamental understanding of what the clothes actually look like.

How do you decide which moments to sketch?

Most of the time it’s just an initial feeling of excitement or challenge, I see something and want to figure out the best way for me to tackle it, I also consider what can I add to this, if the moment is already picture perfect and all my drawing would be doing is replicating exactly what I see then I don’t bother. But there is a pressure to draw all the big moments for social media, draw all the popular celebrities or draw the thing everyone’s sharing, but I hate drawing something for the sake of it. If I don’t feel like drawing it would add a different point of view, I usually give it a miss, or if I do give into the pressure, I usually end up with a drawing I’m not that happy with anyway.

Are there artists (inside or outside fashion) who still inspire your work?

Constantly! Every day on Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest I stumble upon an artist that blows my mind, the hard part is telling yourself to stop “researching” a.k.a., fawning over someone’s work and actually get on with some yourself. But the artists that have really shaped my work are Tony Viramontes, John Singer Sargent, David Downton, Egon Schiele, Yoshitaka Amano, Gustav Klimt and Joaquín Sorolla, and fashion photographers Tim Walker and David LaChapelle.

Scott W Mason, Tamara Ralph Spring ’26 Couture, 2026. 29.7 cm x 42 cm. Courtesy the artist

Is there a tension between capturing the moment and constructing a composed image after the fact?

There’s definitely a magic that happens creating something on the spot that can’t be replicated no matter how hard you try, so I try not to combine the two. Something created in the moment is spontaneous, it’s flawed but finished, then an image I create after is a different beast. Erykah Badu said when recording a song you’re perfecting a moment, whilst performing you’re creating a moment, and that’s how I look at live drawing vs in studio.

Having worked with houses like Dior, Louis Vuitton, Boss and Gucci, each with a very specific visual identity, how do you enter these different creative worlds without diluting your own voice?

I try to think of it as collaborative, the brand hopefully likes my work if they’ve hired me in the first place, so it’s trying to have enough of your own identity in style or voice to bring to the table. Any garment, person or concept I draw is still my interpretation of it, quirks come through whether I mean them to or not, it’s like if the same singer performs R&B, country and pop songs, you can still tell it’s them on each record because of their tone, but it’s adapted to different aesthetics or vibes.

Do you think of yourself as a fashion illustrator, or is that simply the context in which your drawing is most often seen?

The issue I find with the term ‘fashion illustrator’ is people always assume you’re part of the design process. When I tell someone I’m a fashion illustrator, they always get excited asking if they’d have seen any of my work on the runway, then I have to disappoint them and explain I’m not Karl Lagerfeld. I think the term fashion artist would technically fit most of us better. We’re reacting to a garment and putting our own spin on it, the same way a painter would create a portrait, landscape or still life. But I’m fine with fashion illustrator, it’s the term most commonly known.

Scott W Mason, Succession, 2025. 42 cm x 29.7 cm. Courtesy the artist

In the age of social media, sketches are normally used exclusively by designers, with photographers capturing their visuals for the masses. What made you want to change that and sketch fashion’s biggest moment?

I think it was a desire to be part of that world, I didn’t have access to a Christian Dior Couture gown for a photoshoot when I was studying, so drawing it allowed me to transport away and capture whatever I wanted to without the issue of logistics. When I used to sketch out my photoshoot ideas, I remember once showing a model my sketch and she replied “I don’t think that pose is humanly possible” so sketching just allowed me to create the world I wanted to without the cost of hiring a studio, pulling clothes, hiring hair, make up, models—all I needed was a pencil and paper.

What do you think illustration preserves that photography tends to lose?

A lot of photographs are factual; you’re capturing and documenting the exact moment. I feel like illustration is interpreting the moment that’s happening, you have the power to remove anything you feel isn’t important, cherry picking what’s included. I find that illustration also has more of a fingerprint to it, take a landmark like the Eiffel Tower, thousands photograph it every day and you’d struggle to find differences in each photo, but if everyone drew it, you’d see a natural difference in each one like everyone’s unique handwriting.

Do you ever feel like illustration acts as a kind of counterpoint or even resistance to the current obsession with immediacy?

Illustration hasn’t been spared by the immediacy obsession, all of us illustrators feel the pressure to be as reactive as anyone else. I’ve been to fashion shows where I’m clapping the finale with one hand and trying to take a photo of my sketch to post with the other. I’ve stayed up until 4 a.m. drawing the Met Gala, there’s always this race to be seen as the first in fashion, but also this sense of having to do it immediately otherwise people won’t be interested. If you spent a week drawing someone from the Met Gala, by the time you post it it’s already old news. Social media tends to reward the fastest and not necessarily the best. I’ve had rushed and awful sketches of mine really pop off on TikTok because I’m the first to post, then more considered pieces of mine get paid dust because everyone’s already moved onto something else.

With the rise of A.I. and its entry into creative spaces, do you feel your work has been impacted by it?

In terms of jobs, the live event space has only seen a boom in the last few years where people begin appreciating and craving the human element. People love the magic of seeing an illustration created in front of you and being able to leave with something tangible, but it’s definitely had an effect on other areas of illustration like editorial and publishing. In terms of my own work, I buried my head in the sand for the longest time about A.I., I’ve still never used ChatGPT or anything, it just doesn’t interest or excite me. But it’s made me want to enjoy the process of creating things more, not get too stuck on rushing to the finish line but actually take a moment and enjoy the act of painting or sketching. I think that’s what a lot of people forget when it comes to A.I., it’s like ordering a takeaway gets you your dinner quicker but that doesn’t mean much to you when you actually enjoy cooking.

Where do you think the most interesting experimentation in fashion image-making is happening right now?

Imagine if I just turned round now and replied “A.I.” But I’d probably say universities. I remember creating there without much limit (other than budget), and you could think and do whatever you want. At uni, I created an interactive zine, created a fashion film that combined animation and film. My final exhibition was an interactive wall where you colored in your own front cover, all of it’s creative and you’re not bogged down with the idea of it having to be commercial. Then you leave uni and realise clients aren’t interested in your four-minute short film about your thoughts on capitalism… But the creative freedom you have as a student is second to none, the real trick is to know how to combine your unbound creativity from uni with client more commercial needs.

A canary yellow look from the Mugler Fall 2026 runway. Courtesy the artist

Are there mediums or formats you haven’t explored yet but want to?

I’m excited to explore where my illustrations can adorn, the thought of walking down New Bond Street and seeing my work as a window display or going into a store and seeing it on a perfume’s packaging motivates me way more than the thought of having a solo exhibition or something. I would love my work to be integrated and enjoyed within people’s day to day life, so I’m wanting to experiment and test where my illustrations can end up. I’m also working on a book, so the thought of walking into a Waterstones and seeing my own book on the shelves, I’m so excited!

When you imagine your work, what are the three words that come to your mind?

The ones I usually go for are abstract, energetic and confident, but what I’m working towards is unique, expressive and visionary—a little something to aim towards!

When someone encounters your drawings in the future, what do you hope they understand about both you and fashion illustration?

You never know what someone will take away from your work. Over the years of putting illustrations online, I’ve shared really personal work that’s been greeted with laughing emojis and shared quick funny little doodles that people have replied to with think pieces… Once it’s out there you lose control of the narrative. But someone taking a course of mine recently described my work as looking like they all exist in their own world, and that’s what I’d love to have created, not a bunch of random pieces but a visually unique world where people can escape for a bit.

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