Grace Ciao’s Floral Fashion

WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring

You might have spotted Grace Ciao’s exquisite illustrations on page 143 in the Spring Issue of VISI (74). We couldn’t help but share a few more with you.

At the tender age of 22, Singapore-based Grace Ciao is making a name for herself as an illustrator in the fashion industry. What makes her stand out is that she incorporates actual flower petals into her drawings.

How did this all come about? “Interestingly, my blending of flowers with fashion stemmed from a purely accidental episode,” says Grace. “It so happened that I was working on one of my illustrations one day and a semi-wilting rose on my desk caught my attention. It was really pretty initially and I found it a pity that its beauty was so short-lived. It was then that the idea of immortalising their elegance struck me. Wanting to preserve their beauty, I quickly began adding them to the illustrations I was composing and to my pleasant surprise, they turned out pretty decent!”

Grace believes that petals work well for illustration because their delicacy mimics soft fabrics. “For instance,” she explains, “the gentle, fabric-like quality of roses allows me to create folds for flare skirts.”

We think her designs are just beautiful.

Find out more about Grace’s whimsical work at graceciao.com.