East Londoner Hattie Stewart is fashion's favourite doodler. Her brightly coloured Posca pen creations have been featured by the industry's biggest names, including Luella, Marc by Marc Jacobs and House of Holland, while Azealia Banks, Kylie Minogue and One Direction are amongst her fans. Hattie's "winks to the world" have also stood tall in exhibitions in London, Los Angeles and Miami. Now, for the first time, Hattie has made her work readily available for all in the shape of her debut book. Living With Hattie Stewart contains 32 of her most spirited works and the book is cleverly crafted so that each page can be easily torn to stick, frame and collage wherever you like. Miss Vogue catches up with her as her book hits shelves.
You work out of your studio in Hackney, how does London inspire you?
I think living in a big city with so much creative stimulation will naturally inform one's work, being surrounded by so many amazing people is a huge privilege. How living in London directly informs my work I couldn't say, but I know it influences my character and general attitude.
One of our favourite aspects of your new book is that it has tear pages - where would be your favourite place to see one pinned to the wall?
The downstairs loo! Haha! Just kidding - although some of the eyes peepin' and a creepin' could make for an interesting composition. I think I'm most excited to see how people curate the pieces in their own home.
When it came to putting the book together, where did you start?
I completed an exhibition last year where I created 100 illustrations predominantly focused on pattern and shape, so I had a large set of images to curate a nice cohesive collection for the book. Pattern has always been a key component to my work so it became one of the key themes to the book. Ultimately I wanted to create a mix of detailed illustrations and more stripped back pieces that enabled certain motifs in my work to stand alone, like my character eyes.
Don't get mad, get drawing.
You've worked with everyone from Pepsi to Marc by Marc Jacobs, who would you like to collaborate with next?
Beyoncé would be a dream and I would love to collaborate with Moschino.
Can you describe your work in five words?
Tongue in cheek, playful and fun.
If you could paint the exterior of a building or famous landmark with your illustrations, what would it be and why?
I'd love to work on a landmark like The Palace of Versailles, attacking it with my bombastic illustrations, I think the contrast would be quite fun. I'd also love to create 3D sculptures of my characters to dot about the gardens. Future pipeline dream.
If you could only save one of your illustrations from a burning building which would you choose?
It would have to be my sketchbooks, which describe a narrative of my thoughts and creative ideas. They're the most important thing to me, to be honest I'm not very precious with everything else.
Who would you say is your most famous fan? Have you ever sold any works to famous people?
I've done some really fun one-off pieces and projects for some amazing people, including Liberty Ross, Kylie Minogue, Roman Coppola, Azealia Banks and Henry Holland. I got a new Twitter follower recently, Samuel L. Jackson, I'm hoping he'll get in touch soon.
You've done a live show and now created a book, what is next?
I've got an exciting new clothing collection launching this year, which I am currently working on. I've got a few other projects up my sleeve so I am excited for what's to come.