A Little on the Wild Side: Eaton's Prestige Fashion Advertising Published in the Montreal Gazette, 1952-1972

Abstract

Beginning in the 1950s, a team of three artists working for Eaton's of Montreal developed an innovative new style of fashion illustration which would quickly attract the attention of the design art world and continue to captivate it for more than twenty years. The prestige fashion ads which Eugenie Groh, Jack Parker and Georgine Strathy created for the Gazette newspaper received international acclaim, both for their unusual design and complex use of color. Over a hundred awards and countless accolades, including mentions from Women's Wear Daily (New York), The Art Directors Club of New York, Graphis (Zurich). Communication Arts (Palo Alto), and Idea (Tokyo), are testimony to the extent of their impact. This text outlines the events leading to this important period in Canadian fashion illustration history, and explains how through the pioneering work of three artists, the Eaton's advertisements published in the Gazette would become recognized as some of the best in the world. The evolution of the new Eaton's style is analyzed by studying the fashion art, both domestic and foreign, that preceded it. A careful examination of the original works, printed copies, newspaper articles, magazines, annuals specialized in the communication arts, as well as interviews with the artists and their contemporaries who remember the art, provide the basis for a broad review of these outstanding fashion advertisements.