This article was originally published in 2021.
At a very young age, around six or seven, I began to notice that I was surrounded by really gorgeous women in my family. My mother, Claudette, was extremely sophisticated and always elegantly dressed. She was striking, even though she never wore a lot of make-up. My grandmothers were very artistic and a big inspiration, especially the one on my father’s side; she did her make-up in such a beautiful way. It was fascinating watching her draw on her eyeliner and red lipstick. She wore this powder from the French perfumery house Caron that had a wonderful fragrance.
My mother loved fashion, she was incredibly glamorous and very beautiful. She gave me an appreciation for beauty and fashion which has undoubtedly been a huge influence on my career. At the same time, she was a very caring, warm, loving, and supportive mother. To this day she is my best friend. It’s funny, because she never really wore a lot of make-up so I think that’s where my love for natural-looking make-up comes from. She was very fond of blush, though – she never left the house without it!
Every month, my mother would buy fashion magazines like French ELLE. I used to spend hours poring over the pictures and then recreating the make-up looks on her. I remember one time I gave her a smokey eye look in very deep shades – black, greyish black. It made her amazing green eyes stand out even more - she looked like a movie star. I loved playing with colour and was fascinated by the transformative power of make-up. I got so obsessed with wanting to be a make-up artist that I never changed my mind.
My mother encouraged my passion for make-up. I don’t know if she knew or believed back then that it would become my career, but she gave me every bit of support she could. She was my original muse, my initial model and my very first publicist. I had no connections in the world of fashion and beauty in the early days, so my mother made appointments for herself with three top Parisian make-up artists and spoke highly about me. She was so beautiful and elegant that they must have figured out that her son had taste, and one offered me a job as an assistant.
I was always very lucky with women. Meeting Polly Mellon (the editor of American Vogue at the time) was a big turning point in my life. She was looking for new talent and liked my make-up because it was light – she loved that even when I did a strong look, the skin would look transparent. She thought it was modern and new and, at the time, it made a lot of artists’ work in New York look old. Mellon was the one who told me to move to New York. Once I was in the US, my career took off.
There are so many models who have inspired me over the years – Verushka, Lauren Hutton, Penelope Tree, Grace Jones, Peggy Moffitt, Pat Cleveland. I loved working with the 'original' supermodels, especially Linda Evangelista. She was obsessed with make-up and was so easy to transform. Naomi Campbell is such an iconic beauty - I've always adored her. We've worked together so much; I think I can do her make-up with my eyes closed.
I've always been inspired by Greta Garbo. I loved her in the movies Ninotchka, Flesh and the Devil and Queen Christina. She was perfection and, in my eyes, was the most beautiful woman in the world! Growing up, there were several women who I admired for their beauty, style, talent, and strength, and some later became my close friends. One of them was Marina Schiano. She started her career as a model, before becoming Yves Saint Laurent’s muse and later the director of his label in the US. Not only was her look quintessential, but her personality too. She had exceptional taste and an extraordinary sense of humour. She made me laugh like no one else ever could.
When I launched NARS in 1994 I loved the creative aspect of building a brand, but there was a lot I didn't know about when it came to starting a business. I was very lucky to find an amazing business partner, Jenny Lister. She was a great businesswoman. She had a talent for it. We got along very well - I loved her and she adored me. She was incredibly devoted, and believed in me 100%. If I told her back then, 'Jenny, we have to make NARS available on the Moon!', she would arrange a spaceship to go to the Moon the next day! I think the combination of the two of us working together gave NARS its successful start.
There are so many things that come to mind when I think about the power of women - their strength, sensibility, altruism, rationality, love, affection, indifference, independence, confidence, reliance, pride and serenity. I love how determined women are, how they progress and how they always keep moving forward. NARS was inspired by women and created with women in mind; it is my ode to the women in the world.
ELLE Edit: NARS Claudette Collection
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