How Clara Bergond Turns Alpine Folklore And Fire Healing Into Dreamlike High Fashion Illustration

Creative Boom: Inspiration Illustration How Clara Bergoënd turns Alpine folklore and fire healing into dreamlike, high-fashion illustration The French illustrator on mountain magic, the "sisters" she draws, and why, at 31, she's finally proud of her weirdness. Written By: Katy Cowan 24 July 2026 As part of my job as editor, I spend an unhealthy amount of time happily scrolling through Instagram in search of creative talent to write about. When it comes to illustration, there's always a particular kind of art that stops me mid-scroll, and Clara Bergoënd makes it. It's the women she draws, first of all.

Because they're strong, self-possessed and full of worldly wisdom, each one carrying something I can't quite grasp but somehow understand. Then it's the colour, which is fully saturated glory laid beautifully over hand-drawn black lines. And finally, it's the feeling that everything is that little bit elevated and aspirational, the sort of place I'd like to be part of. It's high fashion, in the best possible way. So where does all of that come from? Not, as you might expect, from a fashion house or an art-school atelier. It comes from a mountain.

Clara grew up in the French Alps, "where stories about invisible forces, nature spirits and healing traditions are part of local culture and history". Her father is a fire healer (yes, really), a practice passed down through the generations in some mountain families, and Clara is one too. "I was raised hearing about energies, intuition and the idea that not everything can be explained," she says. As a child, she mixed this up with the books and pop culture she loved: witches, forest giants, folklore, astrology, the relationship between humans and the cosmos. Those influences have never really left.

"Today, illustration allows me to embrace that side of myself. I'm proud of my weirdness, and I love weaving those invisible worlds into my work through symbols and dreamlike narratives." But her path to illustration wasn't straightforward. Clara drew constantly when she was a kid, then, oddly, almost stopped during her studies in graphic design and advertising. "In my early twenties, I was so focused on becoming an adult and finding my place that I gradually disconnected from the thing I had always loved most," she explains. Cue the pandemic, and a first iPad.

Suddenly she had a single tool that married her graphic-design training to her instinct for illustration, and she began drawing every day again, experimenting freely and slowly building a world of her own. She's refreshingly honest that the world is still being built. "I still don't feel that my style is fixed. It continues to evolve as I do. That can make me question my legitimacy or my vision, but I've come to understand that this uncertainty is also part of becoming a good and passionate illustrator." About that colour.

Clara has always been drawn to it, both in graphic design and in the illustrators she admires, and she's happy to tell you her brother, who's also her boss on the design side, reckons she overdoes it. "He often tells me I use too many colours, and he's probably right!" she laughs. "But I think that abundance has gradually become part of my visual language." With choosing palettes, Clara's always looking to create contrast – darker tones for depth, brighter colours for energy and personality, and maybe a cream or lighter shade to keep things readable. After that, she goes with her gut.

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The article discusses a unique approach to brand storytelling through illustration, which is significant for the design industry but may not have widespread applicability across all brand strategy professionals.