The ethos of the ANEW menswear collective leans strongly toward the hand-crafted so it made complete sense to incorporate the stunning fashion illustrations of Nadeesha Godamunne into the project. Having completed her masters in fashion illustration in 2010 with first class honours, Nadeesha is now lecturing at AUT in fashion illustration and forging a freelance career in the venerable art. Her work is informed by historical satirical artists like James Gillray and William Hogarth as well as contemporary illustrators like Julie Verhoeven and Del Kathryn Barton and has appeared in reputable publications such as The Australian Creative, Martin Dawber’s The Great Big Book of Fashion Illustration , Sandra Burke’s new Fashion Designer series and Prodesign.
Nadeesha created these beautiful illustrations for the launch, big water colours that included pieces from the various ranges on offer. Collective member Matt Nash outlines why Nadeesha is a good fit for ANEW: "We really wanted her to be part of the event as we really love her off beat illustration style and thought that her works of the five men would really complement all of our work too."
Like the others involved, Nadeesha is on a constant search to create a new framework for NZ fashion and the creativity that surrounds it: "My illustrations break certain aesthetic boundaries associated with fashion illustration, in an effort to reframe perceptions of ‘ideal’ beauty. Through the reconsideration of line and form I challenge certain visual codes used to talk about fashion."
ANEW line of thought, then....
