Former model recalls her trend-setting days in Paris
All about cosmetics, skincare and the one-on-one attention
Arecent Women’s Wear Daily article told a story that many Texarkanians may not know in connection to our own Carol Collins-Miles and her years as a fashion model for French designer Hubert de Givenchy.
As part of Givenchy’s Parisian fashion house in the late 1970s, Carol was one of several Black models from the U.S. who ventured overseas to become part of his “cabine” and help usher in more diversity in fashion.
WWD recalled this time and Givenchy’s pioneering commitment to Black models in the recent article, including a photo of Carol standing — statuesque with prominent shoulders — beside Givenchy and other models, all part of this groundbreaking moment in time.
It all sparks for her the opportunity to reminisce about those days when she was, as a young Black woman, at the center of the worldwide fashion industry.
“It was just a wonderful time, it was a groundbreaking time even more than what we realized,” Carol said. “Before he put together the ‘cabine,’ there were very few Black models. When I was modeling in America, there would be one or two Black models in a show, even in Europe and Paris.”
Carol started in modeling in 1974 and ‘75, in Houston, working with the likes of department store owner Bob Sakowitz and also Elsa Rosborough, whom Carol called the “grand-dame of fashion in Houston” and a “great beauty.” She considered
Elsa a mentor.
“Modeling agent Jeri Halpin signed me and I found myself often working between Houston and with the Kim Dawson Agency and Neiman Marcus in Dallas,” she said.
But after she and her husband moved to Los Angeles, she had a second offer to work with Givenchy. She couldn’t refuse this time, she said, having declined the first to remain in America with her husband.
She remembers arriving in Paris on April 1, 1978, and immediately working with designers like Chantal Thomass and Thierry Mugler.
“That group of young upstarters,” Carol recalled. Soon, she said, she signed a contract to be a house model working on the second floor of Givenchy’s multi-level design house, Maison de Givenchy, in the chic 8th arrondissement of Paris. In that house, they did couture and ready-to-wear, but Givenchy would
“IT WAS JUST A WONDERFUL TIME, IT WAS A GROUNDBREAKING TIME EVEN MORE THAN WHAT WE REALIZED.”
—Carol Collins-Miles, former Givenchy model
have clothes ready-made to the client’s measurements after seeing the models wear them.
“Incredible handmade clothes. They could walk on their own, they were so well-constructed. It was amazing,” Carol said, recalling other revolutionary designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Claude Montana. She remembers that big shoulders like hers became hip.
“They were the new guard, and they still are the great ready-to-wear designers,” Carol said. “They were just starting then.”
Carol recalled being paid to go there for a couple weeks. “But I stayed for 16 years,” she said. Givenchy was a gentleman, she said, and made her feel like a princess. She learned from him.
“It really changed my life in that way. I could embrace this love of peace and harmony that I always felt inside of me, sort of like a destiny to spread this around the world,” Carol said of the inspiration Givenchy gave her. And, she added, his commitment to Black models empowered them.
“This put him on the level, on the lips of all the fashion world,” Carol said about Givenchy having five Black models. “The designs became very avant-garde, very alluring.”
From there, she said, everyone wanted to work with Black models. “Everyone around the world wanted to add Black models to the show. In a big way. There were Black models everywhere. There were planeloads of Black models coming to Europe because of this,” she said.
One impact, she said, was ushering in the era of the supermodel as a show headliner. “That is the person who goes out first and opens the show, who gives the stamp of the collection, who gives a statement, who sets the tone of the show,” she said.
At one point earlier in the ’70s, there was a desire from some designers to elevate an American Black model, Carol said. But that desire got blowback from racist clients who didn’t want to wear the same clothes Black people wore, or clothes that had been seen on a Black model first.
But Givenchy, she said, sought to change this and create a more diverse fashion house.
Looking back, Carol recognized how momentous it was to have five Black models with Givenchy in 1978. “We changed the industry in a lot of ways,” she said.
CUSTOMERS IN NEED of a new skincare routine or makeup tips for a special event can enjoy one-on-one attention while shopping at the local Merle Norman store. Owner Lynn Baird and her husband purchased the store at 2844 Richmond Road a couple of years ago from her mother, Marion Williams, who was ready to retire.
Williams had owned the store for about 20 years, purchasing it when it was in Central Mall.
Lynn is also a stylist at Shear Country Hair Salon on Arista Boulevard, just off Richmond Road.
“I’ve been a hair stylist for 30 years. Now I go back and forth between the salon and the store. I may
have a hair color appointment at 8 a.m. and then go open the store at 10 a.m.”
Working with hair and makeup is a natural and rewarding career, she said. “I like making people feel pretty. And I like educating people about skin care. I’m actually more into skin care than makeup.”
“I LIKE MAKING PEOPLE FEEL PRETTY. AND I LIKE EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT SKIN CARE. I’M ACTUALLY MORE INTO SKIN CARE THAN MAKEUP.”
—Lynn Baird, owner
This year is the 90th anniversary for the Merle Norman company.
“It’s a year of celebration for us,” Lynn said.
A poster in the local Merle Norman store shows off 90 years of the company’s advertising.
Lynn’s slogan for her store is: “In the seat and off your feet.”
She wants customers to be comfortable, try different products and receive personal attention.
Many of her customers have been using Merle Norman products since they were in their teens.
Lynn said she enjoys offering customers tips on contouring or highlighting, and how to cover scars or blemishes.
COVID-19 restrictions require customers to apply their own makeup or skin care, with guidance and advice from Lynn or associate Kristen Sterling. And mother Marion still works shifts in the store.
Like many businesses, Merle Norman was closed for several weeks during the pandemic.. It was a difficult time for a small business, but Lynn said she believes her store earned some customer loyalty by making personal deliveries.
Merle Norman Cosmetics is also selling a World Health Organization-approved hand sanitizer spray to help fight COVID-19.
Lynn said contouring and highlighting are popular makeup trends. Eyebrow trends change often.
“Eyebrows are always changing. They used to be thin and now they are thick,” she said.
Another popular item is bubble masks for skin care. The masks only take five minutes to use and almost instantly brighten the skin, Lynn said.
“People buy it like crazy after I put it on them. It bubbles and feels tingly and makes the skin look polished,” she said.
The bubble masks help even out skin tones and dark blemishes. It is a great product to use before being photographed, she said.
Lynn said people should have a three-step skin care routine of cleanser, toner and moisturizer.
“Everyone needs all three, whether their skin is oily or dry,” she said.
The skin is like a canvas and it needs to be clean for the product, she said.
“When you exfoliate and moisturize, then it’s ready for the paint … the art,” she said.
Lynn has recently expanded her Merle Norman services to include makeup for weddings and proms.
Girls wanting to get their makeup done for a prom or dance can make an appointment. For weddings, Baird will go on location to help the wedding party.
Anyone wanting to make an appointment can call 903-838-5251.
About the company
Merle Norman Cosmetics was started in a kitchen in California. Founder Merle Nethercutt Norman was an entrepreneur who helped pave the way for other women business owners.
Norman was born in Indiana, where she attended a teachers’ college and taught in the South Bend school system for several years. She later enrolled at the University of Chicago to study chemistry.
In 1912 she met Andrew Norman Gullickstead, who was in advertising and would change her name to Merle Nethercutt Norman. The couple moved to Santa Monica, Calif., in 1920 and Norman’s nephew, J.B. Nethercutt, would also leave Indiana and move in with her, eventually also studying chemistry at Cal-Tech.
During the late 1920s, Norman with her knowledge of chemistry from college would start creating homemade cosmetics in a makeshift laboratory in her kitchen. Norman would give out free samples to her neighbors. She would then sell her products to local customers, with her nephew J.B. working as a peddler to deliver the products using grocery bags. During this time, Norman created her “3 Steps to Beauty” line, which featured her Powder Base foundation, cleansing cream, and Miracol revitalizing lotion.
In 1931, Norman spent $150 to open a small local cosmetics studio named Merle Norman Cosmetics in downtown Santa Monica She also began the “try before you buy” philosophy, letting her customers try on products for free.
In the next couple of years, women who were interested in the Merle Norman Cosmetics brand wanted to open their own studios throughout California, starting an early chain of franchises dubbed “studios.” By 1934, the company had rapidly expanded to 94 independently owned franchises across the United States, most being owned by women.
During World War II, Norman temporarily stopped cosmetic production and the company produced gun oil and camouflage sticks for the U.S. military.
Over the next 30 years, Merle Norman Cosmetics expanded to a multi-million dollar cosmetic enterprise encompassing thousands of franchise studios throughout North America. In 1963, Norman would step down as chairman and hand down the company to her nephew.
(For more information, visit www.merlenorman.com.)