Perfect pair
As the daughter of acclaimed Australian stylist Nicole Bonython-Hines, 34-year-old beauty entrepreneur Ava Matthews grew up finishing her homework on the set of celebrity photo shoots. Here, the duo share how mutual admiration, similarities and even diffe
AVA MATTHEWS
on photo shoots. There was always one at our house, and if it was on a weekend or after school, I would hang out there. I was always surrounded by make-up artists and hairstylists, because they were Mum’s friends. My mum had me when she was 23, and she was one of the only mothers in her friendship group. She would often have people over for Sunday lunch or dinner parties, so I was kind of intertwined with her friends, a lot of whom were in creative industries.
“I remember going on set a lot because Dad [photographer and CEO of Studio Mondo, Grant Matthews] and Mum worked on music clips; I was around bands like INXS quite a bit. I also remember when Miranda Kerr was at the beginning of her career and there was a huge shoot at our house. While I was getting ready for school, she was sitting in our kitchen in a robe having her hair and make-up done. I would often wake up and it would dark outside and there would be a full hair and makeup team in the house. That creative world was all I knew.
“While I’ve always had an appreciation for fashion, I was much more into make-up. I always loved trying new products, and when Mum worked for magazines she had access to the beauty cupboards, so there was always new products around our house. While I loved to test lots of different products, Mum had real loyalty to her favourites, and if she gave me advice it was always less is more and to focus on skin.
“The other thing that Mum always instilled in us was [the importance of] good hair, so a treat for me would be getting my hair blown out. But we were never allowed to dye our hair a crazy colour or bleach it, even when we were old enough to have highlights. Mum also never let anyone touch my eyebrows. A friend told her the best lighting for doing eyebrows is on a plane, because you can see all the little hairs, so in lieu of this she would take me outside in the middle of the day and pluck my eyebrows for me. She never let anyone else touch them, which I’m so grateful for.
“My mother and I are quite different in the sense that she’s quite risk-averse, while I take calculated risks: it’s probably why I’ve had the courage to start my own business. It was incredible to work together on one of the first advertising campaigns for Ultra Violette. I told her not to go overboard on the styling, but eventually the house was full of clothes. I got
“I GREW UP
to see first-hand how amazing she is. I have so much respect for what she does and I think she has a lot of respect for what I do, too.”
NICOLE BONYTHON-HINES
20s, I started at Vogue in a merchandising role. One of my colleagues was the beauty and fashion assistant who had no interest in fashion, so she would happily offload all of the fashion assisting to me and I absolutely loved it. A few years later I was offered a job as the fashion editor of a magazine called Follow Me, which was quite avant-garde. It was the beginning of exciting change in the industry: the Japanese designers were just starting out, Alaïa and [Jean Paul] Gaultier had just started, so it was a time of change from those legacy houses like Saint Laurent and Dior to the really new and fresh. I absolutely loved it.
“I was working at Follow Me for a few years and it was a lot of responsibility for a 23-year-old, but I was quite precocious and managed it all. I then fell pregnant with Ava. When she was born she was the centre of my world; there was nothing more important. I went back to work after six months, but I felt like when I was with her I was probably overcompensating in the mothering department, trying to make up for all of that time being away from her at work. I just wanted to be with her all the time and it killed me walking out the door every day.
“IN MY EARLY
THE BRAND: THE STORY:
By Terry By Terry founder and make-up artist Terry de Gunzburg is a doyenne of the beauty industry whose career spans three decades. Her eldest daughter, Marion Assuied, joined the business 17 years ago fresh out of law school, and now heads the company as CEO.
THE BRAND:
Estée Lauder Estée Lauder founded her beauty company in 1946 with just a few products. Now among the company’s leaders are her granddaughters Jane (president of Lauderowned Clinique) and Aerin (style and image director of Estée Lauder and founder of Aerin).
THE STORY: