A top model’s daily Fashion Week schedule typically begins predawn, with back-to-back castings, fittings, and shows booked in 20-minute increments and lasting into the wee hours. It’s a mad dash between gigs, with little room for errors such as transportation snafus (a challenge this week, with heavy traffic due to stepped-up 9/11 security), but once at a show, the sitting around for hair and makeup makes a good read, be it on iPad or in paperback, de rigueur. New York being only the start of the fashion season, staying sane is important not just for looking good, but for keeping healthy in order to get through the monthlong marathon. Here, a look at how Ford’s girls deal:
Anais Mali
Q: What are your three must-have beauty products during Fashion Week?
A: My three must-have products for Fashion Week are Bioderma Solution Micellaire, Avene cold cream for the face, and La Mer face serum.
Q: What is your go-to outfit during Fashion Week?
A: I don’t really have a go-to outfit. I just choose everything five minutes before I leave home.
Q: What shoes will you end up wearing the most during Fashion Week?
A: I have a lot, so it’s difficult to choose one pair.
Q: What will you be reading to pass the time?
A: I’ll be reading L’Art de la Guerre by Sun Tzu.
Q: What tech devices do you make sure to bring along?
A: I’ll bring with me my iPad and my BlackBerry, of course
Q: Name one thing that’s always in your bag.
A: My camera is something that I never go anywhere without.
Q: How did you rest up and rejuvenate before the shows started?
A: Before the shows, I went to the Turks and Caicos for a week and to Toronto, too, and New York.
Q: Which restaurants or cafes in NYC will you frequent during Fashion Week?
A: A lot of castings or shows are in the Meatpacking District, so if I have enough time, I like to go to Pastis or Chelsea Market or Spice Market…
Q: Which shows and parties are you most looking forward to?
A: My good friend the designer Sophie Theallet is giving a party at Rosebar on the 13th.
Q: Do you try to take care of yourself during Fashion Week?
A: I try to take care of myself as soon as I can and especially my hair because it gets so damaged after Fashion Week! I also take Forcapil pills to make my hair stonger, which are from French pharmacies.
Q: After Fashion Week, what do you do to rejuvenate?
A: After, the only thing I want is to go away from everything, so I usually go see my mom in Nice.