From school books to Oprah’s house, Aaron Favaloro went from doodling in his jotters to drawing for the stars
AT school he would get in trouble for drawing on his books. Now Aaron Favaloro is a fashion illustrator whose fans include stars like Oprah, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie and Gigi Hadid.
Manly
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AT school he used to get into trouble for adorning his maths book with drawings. Now one of his illustrations hangs in Oprah Winfrey’s house.
Reality stars Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie, Australian model Jennifer Hawkins as well as international faces Gigi Hadid, Rosie Huntington Whiteley, Gisele and Tyra Banks are also fans of Aaron Favaloro’s work.
And he’s even just signed a deal to create a colouring book — all from his northern beaches home.
The 30 year-old, whose twin brother, Rhys works with him, said he can’t believe his success since.
“To do what I love and enjoy it, it’s so cliched but I do,” he said.
“I wish when I was at fashion school, a teacher had said ‘you could make a living from this.”
Mr Favaloro, from Elanora Heights, dropped out of studying fashion because he hated sewing.
He landed a job at David Jones at Warringah Mall doing visual merchandising.
But then a card he drew and posted on Instagram three years ago attracted attention, and the former Frenchs Forest High school student started getting requests for his drawings.
His first big-name client was Sydney jewellery designer Samantha Wills, who gave him some advice.
“She put an amount three times what I’d invoiced in my account — that was sweet,” he said.
“She said ‘don’t undervalue your work.”
Another early famous fan was Olivier Rousteing, boss of A-list-favourite French fashion house, Balmain. He has 3.7 million Instagram followers.
Now celebs including Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie have also shared his images of them with their millions of followers, sending his work global.
He’s been hired by companies including Tiffany & Co, Westfield, Moet, Swarovski, Estee Lauder and Topshop to create stylish drawings for events and adverts — and even Beyonce’s people have been in touch about his drawings of her.
One of the world’s most famous women, Oprah Winfrey is also a fan.
An Australian friend of the megastar commissioned him to draw Winfrey with her Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.
“I’ve got a picture of her holding it,” he said. “I’m not allowed to share it as it’s in her private home- It blew my mind.”
Celeb make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury said she was “in love” with his depiction of her and Kate Moss, and northern beaches Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins has images he’s drawn of her in her home.
Mr Favaloro draws his images freehand with Copic markers and fills them in with watercolours paints and Mac eyeshadows
Brother Rhys has swapped his job importing and exporting cars to work on the graphic design and business side.
The pair’s parents, John, a retired fire protection office and Jane, who works as a gardener, live in another part of the house.
But Rhys doesn’t get as excited about celebrity fans.
“I do like design but I’m not into fashion,” he said.
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