Megan Hess

The fashion illustrator on her big break, live-drawing runway shows and eating in Paris on a budget.

- Lee Tran Lam

What’s something you remember eating when you were growing up in Queensland?

Mangoes. We had mango trees and you could actually smell when they were ripe. You know how you associate certain fruits with the beginning of summer? For me, it was definitely mangoes.

When did you first know that you could illustrate?

I can’t remember not drawing. At school, I started drawing other kids, and I remember the teacher saying to my parents, “They kind of look like them.” The drawings were not great, but they were the beginnings of something.

In your new book, Elegance, you write that Coco Chanel got her break in a café. What helped kickstart your career?

Fashion illustration is so niche and hard, and I was on the verge of giving up on it. Then I got a call and was asked to illustrate the cover of Sex and the City. I’d done a little illustration in Italian Vogue, which author Candace Bushnell had seen. She contacted her publisher in New York and said, “Whoever drew this would be good for the new look of Sex and the City.” And then it was everywhere: on top of taxis in New York and on billboards. That was my big break.

You’ve since worked for fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Dior. Was there a particular job that you were really excited to get?