Costume Council
Costume Council Presents | FASHIONABLY (UN)DRESSED: An Evening with Fashion Artist Donald Robertson
Date
Thursday, May 8, 2025
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
The Arts Club of Chicago
201 E Ontario St
Chicago,
IL
60611
United States
The Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum invites you to a talk featuring Donald Robertson, a prolific fashion illustrator and pop artist whose work spans industries and media. As a frequent collaborator with high-end clothing brands, he’ll explore how fashion and visual art can inspire one another. Engaging dialogue with designer Alessandra Branca and an unveiling of Robertson’s custom collaboration for the Costume Council will make for an evening to remember.
“Drawbertson,” as his Instagram followers know him, is a painter and illustrator recognized for his signature flashy and irreverent pieces. He rose to fame through his popular Instagram (@drawbertson) account and was subsequently recognized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and nominated for “Instagrammer of the Year” in 2014.
Robertson began his career as a creative in the world of high fashion for MAC cosmetics. He then went on to launch Marie Claire and redesigned Cosmopolitan magazine. After serving as creative director for the Estée Lauder Companies, Robertson began his career as a fine artist, commanding his unique blend of wit and charm. His latest art book, SOFA KING GREAT, features 400 pages of paintings, sculptures, and musings that celebrate Robertson’s fashionable and well-traveled world.
Schedule
5:30 p.m. – VIP book signing & meet-and-greet
6:00 p.m. – Reception
6:30 p.m. – Presentation begins
7:30 p.m. – Presentation ends
8:00 p.m. – Event concludes
Honorary Co-Chairs
Alessandra Branca & Kimberly Gieske Robertson
Co-chairs
Blythe Lee, Maggie M. Morgan, & Karen Peters
Ticket | $150
General admission to program
Pop Art Ticket | $250
VIP reception with artist Donald Robertson
Artist’s Circle (includes book) | $500
SOFA KING GREAT art book by Donald Robertson and VIP reception with artist Donald Robertson
Book includes 400 pages of art and retails for $300
Questions? Contact Nell McKeown, development events manager, at mckeown@chicagohistory.org or (312) 799-2112.
Roman-born Alessandra Branca’s interiors embody her insatiable curiosity, a taste for adventure, and a dash of rebellion. Honing her craft over three decades, she has cultivated a distinctive use of vibrant layers of color and history and new artful textures all to create iconic, comfortable, chic interiors. From the millennia-old pathways of Rome to the modern creative energies of her offices in Chicago, Palm Beach, and Los Angeles, Branca’s influence shapes richly classical yet updated spaces that seduce worldwide- from private residences to hotels, offices, and yachts, coast to coast and across the globe, spanning California and Colorado to New York, London, Rome, and the Bahamas.
Her early creative life was nurtured by a family that counted art historians and creatives who wove a tapestry of continuous conversation, forming her foundation and feeding her imagination. Within this, context, color, texture, proportion, and precision-balanced with a quiet but strong appreciation for the ancient as well as the new-define a refined intersection of architecture, history, color, and light. Her eye is as likely to be inspired by sun-soaked beach hues as by the interiors of set designer Renzo Mongiardino or the impact of the Farnese on art, architecture, and culture.
Branca’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and design books over the years including Architectural Digest, ELLE Decor, Town & Country, W Magazine, Veranda, The New York Times, and many more. She also received the 2025 Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award from The New York School of Interior Design. Her acclaimed book, New Classic Interiors, quickly became an industry touchstone. In 2020 she introduced and launched her brand Casa Branca, a fabric, wallpaper, and furniture collection with a boutique in Palm Beach, an Atelier and Showroom in West Palm Beach, showrooms throughout the United States and United Kingdom and soon an outpost in Los Angeles.