LUCA School of Arts

Characterization in Graphic Novels Through Fashion

Salina Fernámdez
Onderzoekcommunicatie
Ruth Mellaerts
Introduction

Graphic novels, as well as children's books, have been characterized for reflecting the personality

of the character through his or her expressions and movements besides the context of the book

itself. My approach with this essay is to uncover why so. Why have characters been constricted to

reflecting an image to the reader through the physical appearance the artist conveys him to?

The most acclaimed and popular books most commonly have a main character that always wears

the same attire. It doesn t change throughout the story and his or her clothing becomes a

statement that identifies the character. Normally the clothing consists of one or two solid colors

and perhaps an accessory like a hat, handkerchief. Take for example Curious George (see image b

in appendix), the Man With The Yellow Hat doesn t even have a name, his clothes speak for his

identity which is created under his clothes. My focus throughout this essay is to unfold a
character s personality throughout the clothing and approach the way the character is portrayed

from a different angle that sets its eye mainly on fashion rather than other assets.

Being drawn to getting inspiration from fashion mainly from color and shape, I have questioned

myself where does fashion fall in between characters from children's books and graphic novels. I

don t tend to make fashion illustrations but when I draw people I do make a statement on the

clothes they are wearing since for me it can bring attention from the viewer or reader to that

specific character. I have fallen upon many books in which this asset is not present. Many
children's books or graphic novels focus on other elements such as the context in which the story

takes place or the facial expressions that reflect the emotions of the character.

In this essay, I will tackle the gap between fashion as a way of expression in graphic novels and

fashion as a theme itself. After having researched the relation between fashion as an identity for

characters in graphic novels and children's books I have found this asset to be very far from the

identification of the character coming from other sources such as context, time, personality traits,

and physical appearance. Seeing graphic novels as a thriving format that is well adapting to many

audiences it is not challenging to find all sorts of topics within this format. Being fashion one of

them is also something that has little connection to the foundation of character identification

itself. I have stumbled upon a gap that separates fashion as a way of self-expression and fashion
as a way of characterization in graphic novels. There is, however, an emphasis on relating context
and time to fashion and having this express what the first two points aim at communication. My

question is, why not integrate fashion as another asset for characterization in graphic novels that

aren t necessarily related to fashion? I have found many characters to be portrayed with a

statement outfit or clothing pieces that the character is identified with and become part of his or

her identity but yet these costume in most cases isn t even close to expressing style in what

concerns the world of fashion.

Besides graphic novels being the main point of interest throughout my essay I would also like to

refer to Children's books as a format in which fashion is disinterested. Having read many books

when I was a child and paying close attention to visual details such as clothes, I have come to

realize that it is not only in graphic novels where the fashion disassociated with the identity of the

characters but it is also something that occurs in children books. In this essay, I will cover the
most common ideas and references to clothing in children's books as well as the intention of the

author regarding this topic.

Fashion as a way of self-expression and identity

I feel drawn to dividing this essay into two parts since I have found very few sources that show a

close relation between fashion and characterization in graphic novels. I am compelled to

exploring what authors in the fashion industry have to say from style itself and taking this to the
field of literature ( graphic novels and children's books). Therefore I will first delve into what the

fashion industry has to offer and how this can appertain the identity of characters in graphic

novels.

It is of no doubt that fashion, whether it s fast fashion, prêt-à-porter, or haute couture, has a

significant role in our surroundings that in one way or another shape the way we view ourselves

and view others. Bovone (2012) states For all of us, clothing is a duty; for some of us, a pleasure;

and for many of us, a problem . Perhaps we wouldn t have encountered this problem, as Bovone

states, 50 or 60 years ago, when the mere act of getting dressed was just a banal choice to make

daily. This everyday need has turned into something that defines us at a different level, from the
quality of the clothes we chose to the price tag up to the colors and style of the garments we

decide to put on our bodies.

All these elements determine choices that set us in different groups of society and can also

express qualities of our personality without having to speak. It is interesting to analyze how

Bovone (2012) makes a clear division of fashion and the clothing field. Fashion is anything

related to anything that is evolving throughout society. On the other hand, clothing is just the

mere act of production and consumption and it is here where fashion is interconnected to this act

of consumption. I will, later on, link how this fact is linked to the representation of characters in

graphic novels and children's books.

To finalize the role fashion has in our identity and how we present ourselves to others I would

like to add that this is just only one superficial part of showcasing part of who we are and modern

society plays an important part in the evolution of this as a major factor in our everyday lives.

We can see fashion reflected in many aspects of today s society. Mass media is on the top of them
but then again we have other categories in which we also see elements of fashion reflecting

identities such as video game characters and tv and movie characters.

Upon doing my research I have come across various sources that are closely linked to the

creation of a character for comics, video games, and cartoons. To my surprise, it was challenging

to find specific sources that touched the topic of fashion in the field of graphic novels. For this

reason, I have felt the need to divide this essay into two separate parts, as I mentioned previously,

to then intertwine them together and interpret the relationship they hold with one another.

Visual Narratives and the attention to characterization

Now that I have made a clearer understanding of how we shape our identities through fashion I

would now like to dive into what defines characters in the field of visual narratives, more

precisely, in graphic novels and children's books.

Throughout my research I have encountered many ways of defining a character in a graphic

novel, however, few of these definitions included fashion as an element that enhanced the

personality or identity of the character. If we pay attention to the role of fashion in our lives we
would set this at the top or near one of the top elements that we take into account nowadays. On

the other hand, when we take this to the field of graphic novels it is quite inexistent. I will further
recall what I have concluded to be the reasons for this lack of connection between these two

topics.

Pimienta and Poovaiah (2010) defined a visual narrative as a visual format that fundamentally

narrates the story that includes visual elements that are eye-catching to the reader and also is

formed by a story that tells events or occurrences. Visual narratives such as children's books

include characters that are very solid and recognizable by the audience throughout years or even

decades. If we take for example the children s book Curious George we will automatically think of

The Man with the Yellow Hat It is interesting to note how colors play an important role in

identifying a character in a children s book or graphic novel.

I have also found a recent graphic novel titled Anne of Green Gables ( see image b in appendix)

and what caught my attention in contrast to other graphic novels this one particularly shows the
main character Anne dressed in more than one outfit throughout the whole story. It is very

common for characters to wear the same attire from beginning to end of the story. In few other

cases, the main character will change outfits but these normally tend to fit in with the

contextualization of the time and era in which the story takes place.

I would like to remark that even if characters are portrayed with different clothes as the story

evolves this does not necessarily mean that fashion has a spot in visual narrative. The identity of a

character can be ever-changing throughout a story and adjusting the clothes to the scenes or

context can help the reader better understand the whole of what is happening. However, it is to

state that in most cases this element is just used as a reinforcement to show the contextualization

(time, place) rather than the personal style choices of the character.

The Mode et Bande Dessinée ( Fashion and Comic Books ) organization in France, which was

founded in 1974 in Angoulême, France, exhibits comics that have been used by fashion designers

such as Yves Saint Laurent or Paul Gautier. When I found out there was an organization dedicated

expressively to comics, graphic novels, and fashion I automatically assumed the approach would

be the other way around: instead of comics being showcased on fashion products I thought

people in the fashion industry would analyze the role of fashion in visual narratives. Even if this

organization s approach wasn t what I was looking for exactly it is remarkable to point out, once
again, that the identification of a character can be so sharp and bold that even fashion designers

decide to use them in their collections as a way of also reflecting something by including them.
Conclusion

Thanks to this research I have been able to gain a closer look at the true relevance nowadays of

fashion in visual narratives. My initial argument about how fashion is related to the identification

of characters has been broken down showcasing that there is no deep connection between them.

Despite both topics being trendy today and graphic novels and comics are emerging there is still

a substantial asset missing in what comes to defining a character through his or her styling

choices. being fashion a way of self-expression in our society I think graphic novel authors could

use this to their advantage and there could be a new dimension to be explored if this element was

included as part of the identification of characters in this format.

Bibliography

Drucker, J. (2008). What is Graphic about Graphic Novels? English Language Notes, 46(2), 39–55.
https://doi.org/10.1215/00138282-46.2.39

González, A. M., & Bovone, L. (2012). Identities Through Fashion: A Multidisciplinary Approach
(Illustrated ed.). Berg Publishers.

Jana, R. (2018, October 31). Why fashion is borrowing from the world of graphic novels. Vogue
Australia. https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/news/why-fashion-is-borrowing-from-the-world-of-
graphic-novels/image-gallery/4582030aad48c64db609719c08cf0f4e

Pimienta, S., & Poovaiah, R. (2010). On Defining Visual Narratives. Design Thoughts, 25–46.
http://media.virbcdn.com/files/c1/41f671ff5ca91b37-OnDefiningVisualNarratives.pdf

Thomas, D. (2019, July 1). Of Comic Books and Couture. The New York Times. https://
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/fashion/comic-books-couture-exhibition-france.html
Appendix

Image a Image b