Memories of Danilo Franco

Danilo Franco was to Manila what Antonio or Gruau were to the rest of the world: the foremost fashion illustrator of his day in Manila in the 70s and 80s. He drew mostly in pen because of the reproduction methods in Philippine printing back in the day, but I loved his work. It had so much flow and life, and he often drew his women walking and smiling. An online artist friend of mine asked me how I would draw people smiling in a fashion illustration, and this was an attempt at recreating that image of Franco in my head. I hear he passed away already, RIP.

btw, tis is terrible. I tried to sketch the new MaxMara coats straight off the runway, but with the smile and the short hairstyle, it just looks dated and ugly. Blech. Danny Franco would have cringed.