THE MAN FROM NARS

As one of the world’s leading make-up artists, François Nars has seen it all, and he’s documented it in his new book.

As one of the world’s leading make-up artists, François Nars has seen it all, and he’s documented it in his new book.

Many a fashion fangirl has wondered about what life was like in the bygone rebellious era of fashion – the days of creative boundary-pushers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and those then little-known models – Naomi, Christy, Linda and the others – yet to be dubbed “supers”; a time when late nights ran into early mornings on set and fashion wasn’t so fast.

Legendary make-up artist François Nars’s eponymous new tome is perhaps as close as one might get to that reality. “It’s like my Facebook,” says the 57-yearold, who you won’t find on Facebook despite his make-up brand, Nars Cosmetics, fielding more than two million likes on its official page. “For the people who wish I was on Facebook, well, there you go. There are a lot of photographs. It’s very personal … all the campaigns that I’ve done over the past 22 years; it’s really all the people who I work with that I love.”

The mammoth book is a beautifully curated pictorial biography of Nars’s loves, a timeline of his influences and career to date, but that’s not to say he’s closing a chapter: “I love creating. Until the end of my life, no matter what it will be, I will be creating.” François Nars (Rizzoli, $127), available from www.mecca.com.au.

“IT’S VERY PERSONAL … IT’S REALLY ALL THE PEOPLE WHO I WORK WITH THAT I LOVE”