Artist and fashion illustrator Steven Stipelman was raised in New York City, where he studied art at the prestigious High School of Music and Art and then at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Stipelman's first major illustration job was at the leading specialty store Henri Bendel in New York City. In 1965 he began working as a fashion artist for Women's Wear Daily, the daily newspaper and bible of the fashion industry. He worked there for twenty-five years, producing drawings that were highly regarded for their look of effortless elegance.

Other Stipelman clients have included Estée Lauder, Vogue, and Lord and Taylor. He has been a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons School of Design in New York City and at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He has also lectured and conducted workshops at a number of other institutions, including Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Stipelman has won many awards for his work and has exhibited throughout the United States. His stunning sketches adorn the covers of numerous fashion industry books.