In Fashion Part 15

"For me it was a lot about networking. Every day my job was to sit on my phone and to go out and meet people. I called Bonnie Maller, whose work I'd seen in a magazine and liked. Her machine said to call her agent, Bryan Bantry [an agent who represents photographers, like Patrick Demarchelier, as well as hair and makeup people and models]. So I called Bryan and went to see him. He said to keep in touch and to stop by when I had more work to show. It's hard work. Getting work is your full-time job. I also went to magazines with my portfolio and got to know the editors. That's how I got hired on little jobs. It's really networking. You never know who will recommend you. I was happy to work for free.

"In the end, it was Bryan Bantry who gave me my start. One day a makeup artist was sick and he called me. That was my first shoot."

Eventually, Glamour booked Bobbi on a shoot with French photographer Brigitte Lacombe. Bobbi also a.s.sisted makeup artist Linda Mason, whose heavily pigmented and densely colored makeup was as far from Bobbi's soon-to-be-famous natural look as you could get, at fashion shows.

"You have to be really open. You can learn from everybody. Linda Mason really helped me understand the beauty of color. Bruce Weber taught me how to take makeup off. [Former Vogue beauty editor] Andrea Robinson taught me things on set, as did [photographer] Steven Klein. I've been a student my whole life. I love reading the stories of how other makeup artists got their start. You cannot rest for a second or feel badly if someone says you have no talent. You have to keep going."

Weirdly, another thing working against Bobbi was her all-American-ness. "Unless you are British or French, it's hard to be taken seriously. It's hard for American kids to come into this world and be respected.

"I arrived in New York City from Boston [where Bobbi had graduated from Emerson College]. I was cutting my own hair. I was the biggest dork. I looked at the magazine editors and tried to emulate them. I was always figuring things out." The famously down-to-earth, fifty-something makeup artist then adds: "And, hey, I still am!"

To help change the preconceived notions that the fashion world has of American makeup artists, Bobbi has recently started an education program for young makeup artists. "If we can give young people the tools, and they have a clear vision and goal, they can do it. I tell my students that it's really important to think about what will make you happy. Is your ultimate goal fashion shows in Paris? Or do you want to do brides in Santa Fe? It's important to spell out that goal so that when an opportunity comes, you are clear that you must take it." For the latest on Bobbi's makeup artistry programs, see bobbibrown.com.

"If I can give young people the tools, it'll be that much easier for them."

WHO TO a.s.sIST? TOP STUDIO AND/OR RUNWAY MAKEUP ARTISTS.

Bobbi Brown. The master of all-American natural beauty; founder and creative director of Bobbi Brown.

Linda Cantello. First of the modern generation of makeup artists. British, based in Paris. Launcher of many others' careers.

Gordon Espinet. MAC master; vice president global makeup artistry.

James Kaliardos. American; also with MAC.

Pat McGrath. English spokesperson for Cover Girl and Max Factor; known for working with her hands instead of using brushes. Runway star.

Stephane Marais. Creating the most dewy complexion, this Frenchman brings a painterly quality to bear on the skin.

Laura Mercier. Long-term Steven Meisel collaborator. Founder of her own brand.

Francois Nars. Among the best, this French makeup artist is a glam-master and also the founder of his own brand.

d.i.c.k Page. English originator of the minimalism trend of the 1990s. Spokesperson and formulator with Shiseido.

Tom Pecheux. French runway legend, Estee Lauder spokesperson.

Peter Phillips. Creative director for Chanel, Belgian.

Wendy Ro. English, based in NYC and London, fixture at Burberry show.

Charlotte Tilbury. English; spokesperson for Tom Ford beauty.

Gucci Westman. American; global creative director for Revlon.

PROFILE.

LAURA MERCIER Makeup Artist, Creator of Laura Mercier Cosmetics Laura Mercier is the last person you'd expect to be a beauty entrepreneur. More of a creature from another century, Laura is instinctual, private, and not always concerned with the practical side of life. So ethereal is her energy, so un-Americanized her French, it is hard to imagine her on an airplane, in a taxi, or even a car, for that matter. Nonetheless, that amazing opportunities just seem to come her way-like the opportunity to work with photographer Steven Meisel for ten years or collaborate with a hard-driven Texan to produce an eponymous beauty line-is accepted by Laura as natural in life. People who know this ultrafeminine French woman well have a hard time imagining her doing personal appearances with "real women" customers in Dallas or Kansas City. Perhaps it is because she is so dramatically out of her element out in Anytown, U.S.A., that she has built such a loyal following there.

UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION TO BEAUTY.

Taking the sophisticated and highly technical concept of creating a flawless face via concealer (or "camouflage") and making it accessible to a big audience of appreciative women globally.

AURA.

Mysterious, feminine, and private.

LOOK.

Flowing long wavy dark hair, huge chocolate eyes, and, of course, flawless skin.

UPBRINGING.

Born in Congo, the third of three daughters, Laura was raised in the French region of Provence. After high school, she moved to Paris to attend painting school. She then attended the famed Carita School on Faubourg St. Honore, focusing on makeup application. Subsequently, Laura was asked to represent the school as makeup artist and instructor, and she soon became the first a.s.sistant to Thibault Vabre, a famous French makeup artist.

COMING TO AMERICA.

In 1985, Laura was asked to come to the States as part of the launch team for the American Elle. "It wasn't for me," Laura says of that time. "I didn't want to come."

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT.

Being called to work for Steven Meisel, which lasted for a feverishly creative and exhausting decade (1988 to 1998).

FLASH FOR WAR D.

"Now it's nineteen years, and I could never go back. I was ready to change my life. It was good for me to come here and start new. I had to start from zero. I wouldn't be where I am today had I stayed in France."

THE REAL LAURA.

Hates phoniness. "I am totally antisocial and nonconformist. I don't go to dinner parties.... To schmooze is not my forte," she explains in her graceful, undiluted French accent.

WHAT SHE LOVES.

To hide in a corner of a lab brewing up the next amazing product. To be sitting in the corner mixing colors or painting a face.

WATCH LAURA WORK.

She is an artist. She paints the face, in pointillism style.

EXPLAINING HER SUCCESS.

"I believe in not walking on other people's feet. In not wanting things too badly. Something good happens when you think what you'd love in life. I believe in destiny. You can drive your life, change your life."

TODAY.

Through her licensing agreement with Janet Gurwitch, Laura has built a line of three hundred products, sold in four hundred stores in seventeen countries.

LOTS OF FACES.

Doing thirty-six personal appearances each year with an average of 150 women at each event, Laura touches the faces of some 5,400 women a year, and she has made up 43,200 women in the eight years of Laura Mercier Cosmetics.

REGULAR FACES.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Roberts.

ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE ENTERING THE STUDIO AS MAKEUP ARTISTS.

"You never know everything. You are never the best. There will always be someone who will go further. Do your best. Have pa.s.sion and you will be successful. Take the business for what it can offer you. Do not drown yourself in it. The definition of the fashion business is that it is short term. Quick. Exciting. Exhilarating. The next day there's a new puppy in town and you will go on to something else."

DOWNTIME.

Living quietly in Bellport, New York. NOT going to dinner parties.

Hair Stylist

There are hair stylists and there are Hair Stylists. The hard, cold reality is that there are very few Hair Stylists on this planet (you can count them on two hands) who make it in the world of fashion photography and runway. Among them are Orlando Pita, Odile Gilbert, Guido Palau, Sally Hershberger, Jimmy Paul, Julien d'Ys, and Eugene Soulemain. But there is no higher authority on the subject than Garren, a gentleman and probably the most famous and experienced of contemporary hair stylists. Remarkably, for the past thirty-five years, Garren has been American Vogue's top hairdresser, doing more cover images for the magazine than most other hair stylists combined. His career with the magazine spans the careers of iconic fashion photographers Deborah Turbeville, Albert Watson, and Irving Penn, as well as Richard Avedon and Patrick Demarchelier. These days, Garren works predominantly with Vogue photographers Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, and David Sims.

THE FASHION WORLD'S TOP HAIR STYLISTS TO a.s.sIST Start off a.s.sisting any of the names listed here, and you'll be on the right track.

Garren, www.garrennewyork.com.

Sally Hershberger, www.sallyhershberger.com.

Orlando Pita, Orlo Salon (212) 2423266.

Odile Gilbert, www.atelier68.fr.

Ashley Javier, www.ashleyjavierparlor.com.

Guido Palau, www.julianwatsonagency.com.

Eugene Soulemain, www.streetersnewyork.com.

Julien d'Ys, www.lateliernyc.com.

SALON BEGINNINGS.

If you can't face starving in New York, one good way to launch your fashion hair stylist career is to work at a high-profile teaching salon, like b.u.mble and b.u.mble, Aveda, Vidal Sa.s.soon, or Toni & Guy. Besides a paycheck, you'll be earning fashion creds, experiences, and, once you've made your mark, maybe even the possibility of transferring to a big-city salon.

PROFILE.

GARREN It Takes a Hair Obsession and a Hair Education "You have to have it in your blood to be on the set," says Garren. "You have to have grown up obsessed by hair since the time you were young. You have to know your research. You have to know your movie references that date back to people like Mae West, Joan Crawford, and Marlene Dietrich. To understand that Madonna is referencing Marlene Dietrich with her look, rather than originating the look, is critical.... You have to have film references from each decade cataloged in your brain and know all your celebrities. You have to understand fashion history from the 1800s on to the present. You have to have a sense of what different looks define which decades and which icons define each decade. Basically all the way back to Roman history."

GETTING IN.

The big photographers don't let lots of people into their worlds because they want cohesiveness in the images. They want everyone on the same page. That translates into a regular team of hair stylists and makeup artists linked to a photographer, becoming a collaborative team.

"You don't just wake up one day and decide to be a studio hair stylist. Those people who do that? Their careers are short-lived because when their ideas dry up, they are unable to generate the next thing." Conversely, if you are educated in fashion and film history and are able to draw from significant looks from the past, you have all the references, and the ideas will never stop. "It all goes in cycles," says Garren.

Garren himself grew up in upstate New York, not exactly a hotbed of hair innovation, and says that from the age of thirteen, he was obsessed with hair stylists like Vidal Sa.s.soon and Kenneth and Alexander of Paris, as well as with film and fashion magazines. Similarly, other great studio hair stylists like Guido, Orlando, Jimmy Paul, and Louis D'Angelo (whom Garren trained) immersed themselves in hair history from an early age.

HOW TO GET STARTED.

1. You have to move to a big city.

2. Get into a hair salon or at the side of people you admire.

3. Watch and learn, and keep building your references.

4. Once established, you have to find a good agent to keep you going. Do this by meeting the agents of well-respected hair stylists.

KEEPING ONE FOOT IN THE SALON.

Garren likes the rhythm of going back and forth between the reality of salon work and the fantasy of fashion photography. "When I'm in the salon, I get to work with all different hair types. When I'm on the set, I work with models' hair, which typically isn't the greatest [thick, full body] hair, so you have to add to it and make it better." Models from the countries in the former Eastern Bloc who are dominant today, Garren notes, typically don't have great hair whereas French and Italian models have amazing hair, attributing the difference to a combination of genes and nutrition.

"At least you have something to fall back on-when you fall out of favor-because everyone falls out of favor," says Garren. Spending too much time in the salon isn't good, either. "People stuck in the salon do salon hair [trendy, safe, pretty hair as opposed to outrageous, edgy, or unexpected looks]. You put them on set, they don't know what to do. I enjoy bringing things back to the salon from the set."

Indeed, a well-run salon represents steady income while studio work (particularly editorial) pays little, but its prestige fuels the salon business. In addition to Garren, Orlando and Sally Hershberger each have their own eponymous salons in Manhattan.

HOW IMPORTANT IS RUNWAY TO A HAIR STYLIST'S CAREER?

It's more and more important, says Garren, because of the instant availability of images on the Internet. He cautions against doing only shows with natural hair since that generates little to no buzz and has no news value. "You have to be able to get yourself in the right shows so that you can do extraordinary hair that will help you make a name for yourself."

HAIR STYLISTS' SIX RULES OF THE SET 1. It's not about you. Hair stylists who are strung out and need to share everything about their personal lives are destined to have short careers. You shouldn't be there demanding everyone's attention, showing personal pictures or outtakes from other shoots. "People don't need to know about your crazy personal life," advises Garren. "You have to be there for that picture. You have to be present. That is the professionalism of the work."

2. Know when to step in. Understanding when to intervene for a touch-up when the model is in front of the camera is critical. You have to implicitly understand when the hair is the focal point and when the hair is not the focal point, and you need to know how to behave in both instances. You have to know when to step in and when to pull back.

3. Be discreet. Chitchat about a photographer's breakdown and model no-show from a previous job will definitely generate momentary interest on your next shoot, but your long-term prospects will be seriously endangered. "I have always been one not to talk about what happens on a set," says Garren. "That has served me well."

4. Bring good energy. On a set, it's all chemistry: how you get on with people in the studio; the calmness of your being. "But then you have to follow that up with your craft," says Garren.

5. Do hairdos in the wind and rain. You need to be able to work with the elements when working outside. Think of all the possible situations (beach, boat, mountain or building top), and prepare for them.

6. Don't call in sick. In studio photography, there is no such thing as a sick day. "The whole team is depending on you. You figure out how to stay healthy for your work," advises Garren. "That's the deal. You stay healthy. You don't even think about calling in sick. It's not an option. So you don't go out late. You get enough rest."

Graphic Designer