Last year, I posted a report from the Baltimore Comic-Con, where artists James Jean and Paul Pope made some surprising announcements about plunging into the fashion world. After reading this great post on James Jean's deal with Prada, I decided to share a little more about his work.

As an illustrator myself, I'm a tremendous fan of Jean's work. He does the coverwork for one of my favorite comics, Fables, and I even have one of his signed sketches hanging in my bedroom. Although his paintings are great, his linework is what really blows me away. The fluidity and organic lines interweave until they form the most delicate figures. Just taking a look at his website is enough to show you why he was asked by Prada to create fabric and that huge mural that now envelopes the Soho Prada store.

This is just the start of the growing trend of having illustrators bring their work into fashion. Hint, hint... Versace, call me.

Honestly, it's probably not that difficult to tell that I'm a complete geek. I mean, come on, I'm a professional blogger for crying out loud. A big part of being a geek is attending comic book conventions. There's nothing quite like being swept away in a crowd of sweaty Stormtroopers and guys who only leave their mother's basement for more Mountain Dew and Fritos. Somehow, fashion made its way into the Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend.

On Sunday, I attended the super-packed panel featuring illustrator James Jean and comic book artist Paul Pope and I was immediately filled with geeky joy. Not only did the guys share their beautiful new art books, Jean and Pope talked about some sweet upcoming projects.

Jean, who is probably best known as the amazing cover artist for the brilliant comic series Fables, just designed some crazy ads and fabrics (!) for Prada (!!!). He showed the audience the artwork, and it was stunning. The lines are flowing and beautiful and the pieces look huge. The full thing will eventually go on display at Prada's SoHo location, which means I'll have another reason to go to that store, stand outside, and look poor.