Words by Rocio Frausto
Grace and elegance sweep the heart of Mayfair—beaming of art galleries, luxurious buildings and the ritzy restaurants of London’s most exclusive neighborhood. A zeitgeist of the era, esteemed illustrator David Downton, has become a global force in the international scene of haute couture and has had an ongoing residence at C l a r i d g e ’ s five-star hotel. Translating the spirit of the Golden Age of Couture, his very first assignment was drawing the Valentino fittings at The Ritz hotel in Paris, an experience that inspired his unceasing love for couture and art. As a fashion illustrator, he’s appeared in publications, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times and Vanity Fair. Drawing you into a hallucinatory universe, Downton has created portraits of some of the world’s most iconic women, including Cate Blanchett, Dita Von Teese, Linda Evangelista and Paloma Picasso.
BASIC: To celebrate 20 years of sketching Paris’s haute couture shows each January and July, you have compiled your favorite fashion sketches into one exquisite book, DD21. Tell us about the original concept for the book and how it developed? What collections influenced your aesthetic most over the years?
David Downton: I was sitting, waiting for a show in July 2018, and I realized it was my 21st year at couture. That’s 42 seasons and 84 Eurostar Hotels to and from London and Paris. I thought that I should mark the occasion somehow. So, I set myself a task. What if I were to try and distill those years into 100 pages? I didn’t want it to be comprehensive and I didn’t want text, just a kaleidoscope of memories. I began in fashion at an exciting moment just as Galliano and McQueen came to prominence. I
saw Lacroix and Saint Laurent retire and the last shows of Gianni Versace. It suddenly all felt important. We produced the book in six months. I’m very proud of it. It is, I think, the best of me.
BASIC: Storming the music charts to sperstardom more than a decade ago, The Song Diaries by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, marks her successful seventh studio al- bum. You visited RAK studios during the recording in order to start sketching for the album art. What was the driving force behind the conceptualization of the artwork for this album?
David Downton: Firstly, it was great to go to the studio and watch Sophie work. For the main cover image, I wanted to float her features onto the picture plane. My main influence was the iconic Erwin Blumenfeld Vogue cover in which Jean Panchett’s face becomes almost an abstraction of beauty: eye, mouth, beauty spot. I felt Sophie’s features were strong enough that she would still be recognizable, even when I pared everything down. I also liked the green of the eyeshadow in the original, which I amped up after seeing Sophie wear it in some of her early videos. The image was supposed to represent her then and now.
BASIC: You collaborated with Michael Kors to create a special edition capsule collection for the designs showcased in stores last fall and on the runway of New York Fashion Week. The collection was personal and iconic, emphasizing the diversity of beauty and style today. How did you approach the design aesthetic/process of such an iconic fashion brand? What are some challenges you face in de- signing for a brand whose aesthetic is different from yours?
David Downton: It was a breeze! I drew Michael for the Claridge’s Black and White gallery and a short while later, he called and suggested the collaboration. We found we admired many of the same women for their personality and style and he asked me to create portraits, not of anyone in particular, but representing their spirit. Michael is very smart, knows what he wants and there wasn’t a lot of back and forth. We were in accord. I didn’t see anything until I went to the show in New York and I have to say, it was thrilling to see my drawings on the clothes, moving on the body. Like animation! There are always challenges working in the commercial world, but I enjoy them. Sometimes it’s easier to have parameters and rules. It depends on a little give-and-take on both sides.
BASIC: Marking two decades of your role as an illustrator at the Haute Couture shows, Claridges held an exhibition in celebration of your work as the hotel’s resident artist during London Fashion Week. What are your most treasured memories of the exhibition, including participation with guests Diane Von Furstenberg, Alber Elbaz, Joan Collins and Stephen Jones? Take us through the creative process of your work during your residence.
David Downton: Paula Fitzherbert (PR) and Thomas Kochs (General Manager)—both of whom I now count as good friends—more or less invented a role for me nearly seven years ago and I have come to love it. At Claridge’s, your worries recede. You are in their time and space. Luxury hotels are by their nature, luxurious, but Claridge’s adds another ingredient: magic. The portraits feature guests who have a strong story to tell with the hotel. Paul Smith spends New Year there, Diane Von Furstenberg has designed suites, Daphne Guinness lived there for a while. The process with each drawing is the same. I sit and talk and draw for however long their schedule allows. I then complete the work at my studio in Sussex. The important thing is getting the sense of the person, or the essence of them, as best I can. I can’t, in the time I have, expect to produce a searing emotional portrait as I am dealing with the surface. But I do tell the truth, the varnished truth. It helps of course, that they are all such individual characters. I draw and eliminate extensively and attempt to never to reveal the tension beneath the surface.
BASIC: What future projects can we expect from your distinguished atelier?
David Downton: I am working on various commercial projects right now and also on a fourth book. Soon I will be starting a pod- cast from Claridge’s. But my main focus is a big retrospective in London at the beginning of 2021, which will mark my 25 years in fashion. I think around 150 drawings, mainly from my archive. It’s quite daunting, but I am about to turn 60, a moment to take stock.
