Creativity, it’s a woman’s world

Rosie McGuinness

Straddling the line between life drawing and fashion illustration, London-based artist Rosie McGuinness brings to life the perennially stylish figures we see across front rows and Instagram the world over. Having already worked with the likes of Dior, the V&A museum and The New York Times, Rosie lent her creative flair to last year’s autumn ‘Front Row’ campaign at Bicester Village, near London. There, hand-drawn figures – created using pen, inks and paints – were spotted striding confidently across the Village’s boutique facades.

Leti Sala

Creativity, feminism, fashion and individuality are all recurring themes in the work of Leticia Sala – a new-generation ‘Instapoet’ who’s helping to transform poetry “from an elitist literary genre to one of democratic and accessible expression”. The Barcelona-based writer has collaborated with Catalan singer Rosalía on hits Bagdad and Altura, and this year she’s brought her lyrical verses to La Roca Village, near Barcelona, where ten short poems about female identity in a time of networking cover the boutique facades – recapturing the power of words in an image-driven society.

Donna Adi

Illustrator Donna Adi captured Instagram’s collective imagination when her cartoon-inspired drawings, layered on top of fashion photography, went viral. In January we tasked the Los Angeles-born, Paris-based artist with helping us add a touch of whimsy to The Bicester Collection’s ‘Let Your Glow’ campaign. The results – think melting bomber jackets, handbags with eyes and animated sparkles – have been a hit throughout the Villages.

“I call my artwork ‘magical realism’ because I can give you another element… make you believe in something that’s a lot stronger than just a plain photo,” explains Donna.

Gráinne Bath Enright

Kildare-based artist Gráinne Bath Enright is passionate about the natural world, something that shone through in her Cotswold garden-inspired scenes that adorned the boutique windows last Christmas. When it comes to inspiration, she says: “I've always loved the idea of designing worlds – I was an avid fantasy-book reader.”

It was her love for detail that caused her to gravitate towards pens and watercolour as a medium, and the creation of her first fine art print collection in 2018.

Nikki Tibbles

For years florist Nikki Tibbles has been responsible for whipping our Villages into beautiful, thriving gardens with her blooming floral displays and abundant landscaping. “I’ve never liked installations to be too perfect – there is chaos in nature that fascinates me,” says the Wild at Heart founder, whose work enjoys an A-list following and includes commissions from the likes of Chanel, Christian Dior, Claridge’s and Kensington Palace. Sustainable gardening is also key factor in the design process, she explains: “We always use plants that grow year-round in our designs for The Bicester Collection, so that we’re not wasting them each season.”

Julia Michel

“I was raised in a creative atmosphere, finding inspiration in photos, old magazines and postcards,” says Julia, the artist responsible for transforming boutique windows at Ingolstadt Village, near Munich, with magical, forest-themed illustrations for Christmas last year.

Originally a graphic designer following a degree at Kosygin University in her hometown Moscow, Julia transitioned into illustration and today balances digital and analog artwork, sometimes combining both to create special effects.

Ilaria Faccioli

“I’ve read illustrated books since I was a child, and that’s partly what inspired me to become an artist. There was one book in particular that I looked at again and again, until it was worn out: Tante Stagioni by Satomi Ichikawa,” says graphic designer Ilaria Faccioli. “And my two children – they’re a continuous source of inspiration.”

Having previously worked for the likes of Hearst Magazines and MaxMara, the Milan-based artist helped transform the boutique windows at Fidenza Village for Christmas. She cherishes her career, which lets her combine “my imagination and my technical skills in a creative way.”

Kristina Suvorova

“Every day contains a great dose of inspiration,” says Frankfurt-based artist Kristina Suvorova, whose nature-inspired illustrations at Wertheim Village kicked off the festive season. “Depending on how I feel, I focus on very different things.”

An ideology that it’s ‘the little things matter the most’ is key for the illustrator, who channels her love of nature, curiosity, solitude and hidden beauty into her abstract artworks, hiding big stories in the smallest of details, so you have to look a little closer.