Jim Howard is a fashion illustrator with a four-decade career that blossomed after an early life in the Texas Panhandle. His work is spotlighted in a new Denver Art Museum exhibit called Drawn to Glamour that runs March 25–July 22. It features more than 100 works on paper, starting with his early advertising campaigns for Neiman Marcus in the late 1950s.
Howard tells Colorado Matters that once he had it in his mind that he wanted to work at Neiman Marcus, he mustered up the courage to simply walk into the store, with his portfolio, and ask for a job. It worked.
He moved to New York City in the '60s, where he freelanced for luxury department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and B. Altman and Company. Through his work with these retailers, he created illustrations for some of the biggest names in fashion, including Dior, Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein. He turns 88 years old this summer.
