fashion illustrations inspired by the strokes' discography

Posting something different for a change! I don't usually post my art on here, but I really liked this little series I did and wanted to share. 

I started by sketching some ideas for outfits inspired by Strokes albums, because I love The Strokes and why not. You can see that in the sketches I made the proportions kinda realistic-ish, as I usually do. In the final designs, I tried giving the figures a more slender and graceful look inspired by Robert Best and Leiji Matsumoto. They also have very minimalistic faces simply because these drawings are very tiny and I couldn't do a better job. :P

The series ended up telling a bit of a story about this woman. I decided that the story should follow the timeline of each Strokes album's release. In 2001 (Is This It), she's a regular 16 year old girl wearing a simple outfit, probably fit for summer. Her shirt has Guided By Voices on it, because again, why not?

In 2003 (Room On Fire) she's an 18 year old young woman going to university for art, or something. She now puts more effort into her look, trying to appear more sophisticated. I think I brought in the album cover's colors pretty well, and I like this hair the most out of all of them. 

In 2005 (First Impressions of Earth), she's leaning into her rebellious side. FIOE is the most dark and angsty out of all the albums, so the melancholy vibe from Room On Fire is amplified. She's dyed her hair black and it's totally not because Julian Casablancas did too in this era. I wish I could have this outfit in real life. 

When Angles comes along, 6 years have already passed and she's entering the 2010s with a more professional look to her, the same way that the music switches out a DIY/garage rock sound for cleaner production. I don't care what anyone says, Angles has at least four 10/10 songs.  I felt like the blazer with white sneakers was very Strokes-esque.

Comedown Machine is a unique album because when it released, it had no live performances and was barely advertised. The cover is really simple, as if they're trying not to make you pay attention to it. It was made to end the Strokes' contract to RCA so I didn't expect anything really good to come out of it knowing this, but I was surprised to hear so many new and cool ideas on it! You can feel the band striving to make music together again even though many things have pulled them apart through the years. I gave the lady a trenchcoat and big hair to evoke the 80s influence on Comedown Machine, and to match its mysterious vibe. 

People see The New Abnormal as a return to form for the Strokes and well, yes! They're back stronger than ever but that doesn't mean they're reverting back to the style of music on Is This It or Room On Fire. They continue pushing in the experimental 80's direction they were looking for on Angles or Comedown Machine but without the pressure. You can feel how much more comfortable they are now when they play together. The album cover is a lovely Basquiat piece, so I tried doing an abstract graffiti-ish thing on the lady's overalls. And is that the same GBV shirt she wore in 2001? :P 

Thanks for reading!