Caroline So - Fashion & Beauty Illustrator, San Francisco

Imagination, adventure and emotion are at the heart of Caroline So’s fashion and beauty illustrations, and they’re ingrained in her personality as well. A leading professional at the top of her game, she creates stylish imagery for the biggest names in the industry, and has a portfolio to prove it.

Originally from Southern California, Caroline went to New York at 17 with the goal of working in fashion. After working there for several years, she is now San Francisco based. Pencil and paper are her oldest friends, and since childhood she has explored new ways of capturing facial expressions, poses, animals, nature and more. With 10 years of experience in fashion design prior to becoming an illustrator, she’s an expert at finding unique solutions for her clients’ projects. Her inspirations include Francis Bacon and Egon Schiele, and she also loves collecting novelty perfume bottles.

Approach

Caroline’s illustrations begin as pencil sketches as she builds up the composition. Once she’s decided on a blueprint, she traces key lines in ink, scans them into her computer, and continues in Photoshop. She loves creating a clean, modern feel to complement her natural, hand-drawn lines.

Style

Caroline’s style is bursting with emotion, whimsy and life. She brings a touch of joy to everything she does, and gives her subjects a sense of playfulness, delicacy and quirkiness.

Client list

GOOP, Diptyque, La Croix Water, 3M/Nexcare, Sugarfina, Ines Di Santo, Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Fresh Beauty, Talbots, Lou and Grey, NYDJ, Create and Cultivate, Lenovo, and Compass Real Estate are among Caroline’s clients.