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WORDS: JO BOUNDS PHOTOS: HANNAH HARLEY YOUNG. GORUNWAY.INSTAGRAM/SABRINA PERCY. HENRIQUE-FERREIRA/UNSPLASHI was 13 when I won an art
scholarship to Millfield school in
Somerset. Then, when I was 21,
I went to the London College
of Fashion and studied fashion
illustration. I really enjoyed being
on the campus, the drawing studio
were beautiful – large windows wit
light streaming in and high ceiling
I started freelance illustrating straight after college- my first commission was for [fitnesswear label]
Lululemon. They ran a competition looking for
a London artist to design the main artwork for
the King’s Road store in London, and I won.
The canvas was so large when it arrived at my
studio it wouldn’t fit under my ceiling. I ended
up creating the whole piece with the canvas
lying on the floor.
The outside of the painting was inspired by a
pattern used on plates by the Chelsea Porcelain
Manufactory. It featured a labrador weightlifting at
the top, which evolved into two foxes playing golf.
There was also a pheasant doing yoga, two stags
playing rugby and two horses riding a bike. It felt
so surreal when I saw it in place in the store.
Following that I worked with Hermès and
Perrier-Jouët, Rolls-Royce and Royal
Ascot. For Hermès, I drew an illustration
of the new Twilly perfume and for
Perrier-Jouët I created hand-painted
bottles in acrylic for a lunch.
When Tatler magazine decided
to feature me on the cover I was
delighted – although a bit nervous.
The clothes were incredible – I had
six full looks from Chanel, Prada, Dolce
& Gabbana, Fendi, YSL and Versace.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana
saw the cover and asked me to walk for
their September 2017 show. I wore a pink
stripy, floor-length sequinned dress – luckily I
wore flats, so the walking part was easy. I was a
little in awe of them when I met them. They’re
both very hands-on – I was sitting in hair and
make-up thinking, ‘I can’t believe Dominico
just came up and readjusted my headpiece!’.
My go-to label for daytime is Carolina Herrera –
it’s classic and elegant. For more dressed-up
looks, I love Dior, Elie Saab and Tom Ford. I am
also a big fan of British designers – Temperley
London, Simone Rocha and Alexander McQueen.
I love travelling, and especially Italy for the
architecture and the cuisine – I’m a big pasta
fan. I adore Venice,
it blows me away
every time – I don’t
think I will ever
get over its beauty.
When I’ve got some
free time I love to visit
the V&A museum in
London, go horse
riding or just sit down
with a great book.
Artist, illustrator and model Sabrina Percy was
just five years old when her first drawings
hung on the walls of London’s Royal College
of Art. Her life has been filled with colour and
design ever since, being commissioned to
design huge artworks for yoga brand
Lululemon, along with fragrance bottle
illustrations for luxury brand Hermès.
Her style also recently wowed Italian
designers Dolce & Gabbana, who
asked her to walk in one of their runway
shows. “The highlight was meeting Stefano
and Dominico – we had so much fun,” she
says, of her time hanging with the fashion duo.I’ve been drawingever since I can remember –
when I was five years old I won a children’s art
competition at school and my work was featured
at the Royal College of Art.
My mother was a fashion designerwhen I was
growing up – she’s naturally very creative. I
remember us drawing together when I was small.
I used to watch how she used the pens. I’m very
dyslexic and art just always made sense to me.SABRINA
PERCY
Spotlight on...
CLOCKWISE
FROM TOP RIGHT
Sabrina is a fan of
Temperley London;
an iPad-drawn
self-portrait; she
loves the beauty
of Venice; with
Lady Kitty Spencer
during a Dolce &
Gabbana shootos
th
gs.