David Downton

Over the last decades, 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. Since that time he has worked principally as a fashion illustrator. His reports from the shows have appeared in V Magazine, Vanity Fair, Airmail Weekly, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, The Times, The New York Times amongst others.

David’s commercial client list includes; Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, Tiffany’s, Oscar De La Renta, Nieman Marcus, Mondadori, Omega, Patek Philippe, Harrods, Estée Lauder, Charlotte Tilbury and the V&A museum. In addition David has produced portraits (from life) of some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic women; Cate Blanchett, Dita Von Teese, Erin O’Connor, Catherine Deneuve, Gillian Andersen, Angelica Huston, Iman, Linda Evangelista, Rachel Weisz, and Paloma Picasso amongst many others.

David has been awarded honorary doctorates by London College of Fashion, Academy of Art University San Francisco and the University of Wolverhampton.

David edited the magazine pourquoi pas? ‘A journal of fashion illustration’; the world’s only journal dedicated to fashion illustration. An area that he explored further in his book Masters of Fashion Illustration published by Laurence King publishing, which came out in September 2010 and has recently been published in paperback edition. He is currently working on a new monograph.

In september 2011 he was appointed the first ever ‘Fashion Artist in Residence’ at Claridge’s Hotel in London and later, the Gritti Palace in Venice and The Coste in Paris, in which capacity he has been commissioned to draw the hotel’s most illustrious guests from the world of style and fashion.