Downton's Darlings

      This morning I discovered fashion illustrator David Downton, and nothing gets a fashion designers blood moving in the morning then some fabulous inspriation. David Downton was born in Kent, England in 1959 where he freelanced on various projects as an illustrator. It was not until 1996 when the Financial Times asked him to do illustrations of the couture collections that his career as a fashion illustrator began.

      I came across his work upon seeing his beautiful illustration for the new Oscar De la Renta perfum campagn.  Mr. De la Renta was bored with the many celebrities that blur together for the hundreds of various fashion and beauty campaigns, and he wanted to take a step back in time when advertising was entirely done by hand. Anyone who is a fan of Mad Men will surely appreciate this as well.

I love his lose hand and line quality, each illustration oozes glamour and sophistication.

His use of vivid color and saturated black marker is bold and eye catching, I am dying to try this on my next project!

I love the simplicity of this illustration, the way he can say so much with so little

This is another favorite of mine. I love his use of color, it is so modern, and so fresh yet with a dash of retro all at the same time.