Sabina Farziyeva Unveils Editorial Illustration for Nargis — Graphics Design

Sabina Farziyeva's editorial illustration series for Nargis Magazine reimagines fashion editors as collage portraits built of clashing patterns.

The premise is character, not likeness. Each portrait builds its editor out of wardrobe. Anna Wintour gets the blonde bob, dark sunglasses, a string of pearls and a patchwork coat stitched from mosaic tile, gold brocade, green gingham and spotted animal print. Diana Vreeland wears her two-tone hair, pearls and a crescent moon necklace against red damask. Grace Coddington arrives with her mane of orange-red hair and a blue monogrammed garment. The backgrounds work just as hard: red stage curtains, gallery walls of framed portraits, patterned wallpapers. Every outfit is a collision of fabrics that never quite match, which is the point. The mix of patterns is the personality.

Editorial Illustration as Character Study

The lettering is all hand work. Names like Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld and Edward Enninful are signed across the portraits in loose script, like autographs. Famous quotes sit in black caption bars pasted over the compositions: "If you can't be better than your competition, just dress better," and "Style, all who have it share one thing: originality." Small-caps kickers ("LOOKBOOK / FASHION AS ART") and page numbers keep the magazine grid honest, and the portraits run as full facing-page spreads, the way a print feature should.

Farziyeva works digitally, in Photoshop and Procreate, but the collage reads tactile. Brocade, damask, gingham check, mosaic tile, quilted panels, pinstripes and animal spots sit side by side with painted faces and hair. Six of the portraits ran in Nargis Magazine's Editor issue alongside the artist's bio, and the project page shows them in print: held open in hands, fanned as cards on a chair, listed on the contributors page. The series draws on the visual language of fashion media, layered styling and bold silhouettes, and the cultural image of the editor shaped by references like The Devil Wears Prada.

See more from Sabina Farziyeva on Behance.

Hands holding Nargis Magazine open to the Mix Patterns feature with Grace Coddington and Diana Vreeland

Magazine spread with mixed-pattern collage portraits of Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld

Magazine spread with mixed-pattern collage portraits of Franca Sozzani and Edward Enninful

Printed Mix Patterns editorial illustration cards fanned across studio floor with patent stiletto heels

Top-down perspective of open Nargis Magazine spread on rich crimson red surface

Open Nargis Magazine showing the Mix Patterns portraits beside patent heels and lace tights

Printed Mix Patterns illustration cards of Franca Sozzani and Edward Enninful on transparent chair

Nargis Magazine contributors page featuring Sabina Farziyeva artist bio and portrait

Sabina Farziyeva Unveils Editorial Illustration for Nargis