emma Cowlam

Emma Cowlam is a multi-award winning design graduate of Chelsea School of Art in London and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

After gaining a wealth of experience working in the fashion industry both sides of the Atlantic, she took all she had learnt and combined it with her lifelong passion for drawing. She founded her own studio and launched her first collection of fashion illustrations to global critical acclaim, both in the world of fine art and the famous fashion glossies.

Emma takes inspiration for her refined and beautiful illustrations from the everyday images observed throughout her fashionable daily life and transforms what she witnesses into lasting snapshots. Her work is sophisticated, stylish, elegant and aspirational. She is endlessly influenced by traditional fashion illustrations yet draws with a contemporary, realistic twist.

Her portfolio combines two signature styles which appeal to both high end and commercial clients. One involves a highly unique and intricate hand stitched illustration technique which elevates a traditional craft to posses a luxury status. Captivating hand stitched collections have been sell out successes at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Liberty of London and Somerset House, to name a few. The second illustration style showcases Emma’s highly skilled talent for pen and ink drawing.  Fashion drawings in this style are frequently commissioned, most notably by the influential fashion editor Erica Davies for her number one best selling style book 'Leopard Is A Neutral: A really useful style guide'.  Emma has collaborated with major international fashion magazines including Elle and Glamour, as well as a myriad of luxury brands such as Radley. Her work hangs in private art collections worldwide.

Each of Emma’s illustrations is a one-of-a-kind original to be admired and treasured. Emma’s work is a visual representation of her everyday stylish life. Sartorial style stories stitched and inked.

In 2019 Emma began a freelance role at a leading British luxury silk brand. Intentionally motivated to bring her vision for her own luxury silk label to life, she spent 4 years in their design studio. Here she learnt how to sustain and grow a highly successful silk business ~ design, production, marketing, trade stockists, bespoke collaborations and much more.  Alongside her day-to-day working life there, Emma began to establish her own silk collection. Combining her hand drawn illustrated prints, vibrant colours and the finest silk. Just Add Style unfolded in her studio.

Emma has returned full-time to her own fashion studio where she is evolving her career as a fashion artist and luxury silk designer in London and internationally. 

Welcome to her world.

Clients include: Elle, Elle Decoration, Living ETC, Glamour, Victoria & Albert Museum, Liberty of London, Somerset House, Radley, Mary Portas for House of Fraser, The Trafalgar Hotel, Modern ArtBuyer for Bath in Fashion ...