Before the Andy Warhol that we all know for his Marilyns and Soup cans created his factory in New York, he was a jobbing graphic designer, and a successful one at that. The latest exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum aims to fill the gap, and succeeds too, with a charming and informative display of garments that predict what would become Warhol’s trademark use of colour, pattern and repetition.
Whilst still in his mid-20’s Andy Warhol had already found employment drawing shoes for leading manufacturers to use in their advertising. These have been shown before, and although still not as well-known are his later iconic silkscreen prints, they are at least recognised as his creative beginnings. They are charming illustrations that employ a tracing technique, one that might be considered the most basic of printing methods, to draw the contours of the fashionable and stylish footwear for magazines andbe done numerous times using the same design. The quality of the line is scratchy and blotted, giving it a distinctive hand-made feel and look, which was all his own.
