Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/603573
"I've always, always drawn. When I was five years old my father went into the hospital for six months. It was a horrible thing, and drawing became my way of coping." —Richard Haines 270 CULTURED hile editors, clients, buyers and groupies are there to work, look, gawk and be seen, Richard Haines is front row, runway ready, with paper and pencil in hand creating fluid, elegant drawings—every 45 seconds—of the outfits and guests he sees. These captured moments will be among the drawings on view at his solo show opening in January at Huberty & Breyne Gallery in Paris—timed to coincide with Men's Fashion Week. Here, Doug Meyer, catches up with the artist to discuss the origins of his craft, and the fashion industry that has embraced him. When did you start drawing? I've always, always drawn. When I was five years old my father went into the hospital for six months. It was a horrible thing, and drawing became my way of coping. I created my fantasy world of flowers, gardens and dresses—I was not encouraged—but it was my way of escaping. When did you first become interested in illustration? My first experience with fashion illustration was at my grandparents' house. My grandfather would always read The New York Times. One day it was open to the Style section—this is like 1963—and there was the couture report for the summer. There was this drawing of just lines of a Christian Dior—it was so beautiful—and I remember thinking how amazing it was to convey so much information with so few lines. Now why was a 10-year-old thinking that? I don't know. That's what amazes me now when I think back. Transfixed by this drawing, I would trace it, copy it and try to draw like it all that summer. How did the 1960s affect you? The '60s were really a huge thing for me. It was my coming of age—I was a teenager and there was a cultural explosion of things happening. All of a sudden magazines looked different, people dressed differently, ads were different, TV and everything started to change really fast and as a kid it was really exciting and that's when I was drawing a lot. Through high school I remember spending all weekend in my room drawing, copying ads of the big department stores and reading. I went to college and studied graphic arts in Richmond. During that time I was obsessed with Antonio Lopez. I remember opening The New York Times Style section and it was all Antonio's drawings—it was mind-boggling, just beautiful. That got me excited about drawing fashion. After college you spent 25 years in the fashion world working for everyone from Bill Blass to Perry Ellis. Were you drawing during this period? I stopped drawing for years as I got further and further into fashion design—the more you're in it, the more it becomes about managing people. So I was not drawing again until 2008. What happened in 2008? When the economy tanked, everything stopped and dried up. So someone told me to start a blog. At first it was going to be a blog trend report, and after two days I started to draw people and post them—I love the vitality of people on the streets of New York. Then it took off. This thing of being an illustrator just sort of happened. After a few weeks into the blog, Style.com did a story, then it started to accelerate. In 2009 J. Crew did a window of my drawings and that lead to personal appearances. Then I got a job drawing for The New York Times "Top 10" working for Bruce Pask. Then came Prada—then came Dries van Noten. Has your work changed over the years? I have drawn almost daily for the last eight years. Things evolve—the line has changed, the medium has changed. Another thing is I do more portraiture and I am trying to push color and size—that's my next challenge. Haines' Vintage Bathing Cap Study and Prada Lineup, both 2015 W