Chic Ink

Step Inside The World Of Fashion Illustrator Megan Hess As She Brings Her Timeless Touch To A Worthy Cause

- Tamara Davis

Elegant white cabinets sit atop plush textured rugs, a golden bar cart is filled with fine china, and chic coffee table books are stacked just so. Seconds into my tour of the lavish suite, which Hess renovated from a drab financial services office (“all cubicles and brown carpet”), she politely interrupts me to turn the music down. Nineties hip-hop is blasting over the radio, which feels amusingly at odds with the serene environment.

“We’ve got R&B Fridays on,” she says with a laugh. “We don’t even secretly love it—we love it. During the week we’re usually listening to Hôtel Costes or something calm, but we’ve got Missy Elliott blaring [today].” The workspace of the venerable creative, conveniently situated “literally steps” from her home in the bayside suburb of Port Melbourne, feels a lot like you’ve stumbled into one of her sketches. Her unmistakable style riffs on lithe, fashionable ladies in black-and-white worlds, where the streets are embellished with charming buildings decked out in designer awnings. Large-scale prints of her work line the walls of the office—the artist has lent her talents to commissions for Dior, Prada, Valentino et al., and her bespoke illustrations also hang in upscale houses and hotels around the globe. Hess’ latest collaboration with Georg Jensen, though, is one of her most cherished yet.