People of Pattern: Danelle French

image by Steve Brokaw

People of Pattern is a new segment on the Pattern blog featuring short interviews with all the different people who comprise the Pattern community. With almost 1500 people registered on meetup.com + a few hundred more that aren’t, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everyone and maintain that “community” feel. So People of Pattern was conceived in order to get to know everyone a bit better for our benefit and for yours (Thanks to Hannah Zimmerman for coming up with the idea)!

We’re excited to launch this project by featuring makeup artist Danelle French. French’s work has been featured multiple times in Pattern magazine as well as other publications, and if you follow her on social media, you’ll see that her feed is filled with images from the many editorial shoots that she works on with some of Indy’s best fashion photographers.


What do your friends call you?

On occasion it’s Danny, but usually just D.

How old are you (if you don’t mind me asking!)?

35, but 36 is creeping up quickly (applies more retinol serum).

Where are you from?

A very small town called Hartford City, it’s just north of Muncie.

Which neighborhood do you live in right now?

SoBro, we have Delicia and La Mulita…so we win!

What do you do for a living?

Makeup Artist/Esthetician.

What do you do as a creative outlet?

My job is my creative outlet! I’m very grateful for that, I know it’s rare.

What’s the most interesting thing happening in Indy right now?

I love what’s happening with the CCIC (Circle City Industrial Complex) & Ruckus. I think it’s going to be such an amazing space when it’s all done. The city has become so welcoming to local businesses and artisans, it’s really cool to see.

Favorite local brewery, distillery or winery?

I’m actually not much of a drinker. I like a good margarita every now and then from La Mulita but that’s about it. I realize that doesn’t actually answer your question…

Last trip you took?

They’ve mostly been smaller trips lately; visiting family in Maryland and Georgia, weekend trips to Nashville, Chicago, etc. I think we’re going to San Antonio in November and back to Puerto Rico in March. The last big trip we did was with family: nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, parents, and so on! We all went to Disney and the Bahamas. I got my picture taken with Goofy, I  should have given you that one (the head-shot photo) to use.

How did you hear about Pattern?

I attended some meetings back before Pattern was actually Pattern and then I knew some people who worked on photoshoots for the very first issue of the magazine. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on different editorials, ads, and features for all the subsequent issues.

What was your favorite meetup and why?

I really enjoyed the fashion editorial meet-up where Steve Brokaw, Will Foster, Esther Boston, & William Baulkey all spoke. They are some of my favorite photographers in town and I love hearing other creatives talk about their own creative process.

What are you doing this coming weekend?

Weekend-what a novel concept. Ha! I don’t really have a normal schedule so weekends I’m typically working. I’ve got a wedding and two photo-shoots I’m doing makeup for this weekend. I’m hoping for a little down time on the couch with some Netflix, my husband, and our dog, but we’ll see!

Danelle French
image by Jeremy Murchland

You can check out French and all she has to offer by going to her website or following her on instagram: @danellefrench and twitter: @danellefrenchmu.

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