David downton fashion illustrations

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From his suite at Claridge’s hotel, where he’s Artist in Residence, David Downton talks to Charlotte Metcalf about how he became the fashion world’s most sought-after illustrator.

Fashion artist David Downton takes inspiration from his favourite haunt, Claridge's

David Downton greets me in Claridge’s hotel lobby, where he has been Artist in Residence since 2011.

He’s wearing his signature half-tinted glasses and black suit as “DD”, the alter ego that the fashion illustrator created when he became “part of the story”, nearly as well-known as some of the famous women he draws. I follow him down a corridor, lined with his drawings, to ascend to his suite.

“They’re running out of space,” he laughs, as I marvel at the extraordinary likenesses he can conjure from just a few, deceptively simple lines. The famous faces include Dame Joan Collins, Christian Louboutin, Erin O’Connor, Mi