David downton portraits

Biography
——

Over the last decade, David Downton has established a reputation as one of the world's leading fashion artists. His classically elegant, yet highly contemporary images have been a key factor in the revival of interest in the tradition of fashion illustration and David is a worthy successor to the great artists in his field including Gruau, Eric and Antonio.

In 1996 he was commissioned to draw at the Paris Couture Shows by a Sunday supplement. And since that time he has worked principally as a fashion illustrator, his reports from the shows have appeared in V Magazine, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, The Times, The New York Times and the Telegraph Magazine among others.


His commercial client list includes; Chanel, Dior, Tiffanys New York, Harrods, Estée Lauder and the V&A Museum. In addition David has produced portraits (from life) of some of the worlds most beautiful and iconic women; Dita Von Teese, Erin O'Connor, Catherine Deneuve, Iman, Linda Evangelista, Rachel Weisz, and Paloma Picasso. One of his recent commissions was to produce four illustr

David Downton

David Downton (born 18 February 1959)[1] is an English fashion illustrator. He worked for Vogue.

Biography

David Downton was born in Kent, England in 1959. He studied at Canterbury (Foundation year 1977–1978) and Wolverhampton (BA hons illustration/graphics 1979–1981).

In 1984 he moved to Brighton and began his illustration career. He has worked on a wide variety of projects, including advertising, packaging, illustrating fiction, cook books, and, occasionally, fashion. His drawings from fashion shows have been published internationally.

In 2007, Downton launched Pourquoi Pas?, a journal of fashion illustration. He is a visiting professor at London College of Fashion.[citation needed]

He received an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, in April 2009.[2]

Downton is the artist in residence at London's Claridge's hotel, where he stays 52 nights a year in exchange for drawings.[3][4]

References

External links

Five minutes with legendary fashion illustrator David Downton

It’s often the way in fashion – what’s old becomes new, with many designers looking to the past for inspiration. And this time, it’s fashion illustration that’s back en vogue.

The coronavirus pandemic turned everything upside down. Lockdown orders derailed conventional fashion shoots, with many labels unable to photograph their autumn/winter 2020 campaigns before the outbreak. And, with photoshoots requiring people to travel and work together in close quarters (think: photographer, models, assistants and stylists), pulling off a glossy shoot became both irresponsible and impossible.

So 'everyday couture' label, HIGH decided to – quite literally – go back to the drawing board to the days before fashion photography and to use illustrations by working in collaboration with renowned illustrator David Downton.

“I found [the collection] sophisticated, covetable, ‘wearable’ (that’s not a damming term to me) and inspiring in it’s detailing,” says the London-based artist. “A pleasure to draw.”

When it comes to draw

Copyright ©popfray.pages.dev 2025