http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fas...ncois-nars-1#_
April 2013 issue of Interview.
Linda Evangelista, who has known Nars since the late '80s—and has frequently served as a canvas for some of his most iconic work—recently met up with him at the Star Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel off Central Park in Manhattan.
LINDA EVANGELISTA: Do you remember when we first met?
FRANÇOIS NARS: I do remember. Do you?
EVANGELISTA: I don't. I have no memory of anything anymore. People tell me things . . .
NARS: You're not the only one.
EVANGELISTA: Naomi [Campbell] remembers everything.
NARS: Because she has a tape recorder inside of her.
EVANGELISTA: Yes, built in. It's unbelievable. But there are so many things where I'm like, "No, I don't remember that"—and they're, like, big things . . . Actually, I remember the awful things about those early show days because I felt so out of place there.
NARS: During those early shows?
EVANGELISTA: Because initially, the rest of the girls were all "show" girls and I wasn't. I didn't have a place yet. I wasn't a "print" girl or a "show" girl. I felt like I was the new one.
NARS: Well, I'll refresh your memory. We met at the Calvin [Klein] show. You were doing Calvin—I think it was maybe one of the first times. I did your makeup, and I remember that I was not focusing enough at a certain point backstage and—
EVANGELISTA: Here it comes . . . [laughs]
NARS: I think I was re-powdering you, and Calvin was talking to me, and you said to me, "You've got to focus." Then I remember the next day I was working with Steven and I said to him, "I worked with this girl, and she was heaven. I don't know why, but I loved painting her and I loved the attitude. She was very pro—I turn my head, and I was not focusing, and she said, ‘Focus.' There was something about her . . ." And he said, "Yeah, somebody from her agency told me I should see her." So I was one of the ones who actually told Steven, "You have to see this girl. She's definitely working." [laughs] I remember like it was yesterday. I said to Steven, "You know, this girl was tough . . . But I kind of like that."
EVANGELISTA: I apologize because I didn't know that you could do powder without looking. [both laugh] But I do remember walking into Steven's studio for that first shooting with Polly Mellen and you and Oribe.
NARS: I did everything I could so that you'd fall in love with the makeup and the hair.
EVANGELISTA: But there were so many girls booked on that shooting, and we were just sitting and waiting. Then I got my turn, and I got so insecure because you were all talking about my gums and my knees. I thought, "Oh, they don't like me. There's something wrong with my gums. They're saying, ‘When she smiles, we can see her gums.' " And I'm like, I'm gonna get thrown out of here because of my knees.
NARS: But all those things were the things that made us fall in love with you.
EVANGELISTA: I thought you were critiquing. I thought I was gonna be thrown out for the knees and the gums.
NARS: And it was the beginning of a very long collaboration. I remember one time, when I lived on Broome Street, I was talking with Steven on the phone—I was upset about a boyfriend or whatever. I was so depressed. So Steven said to me, "Okay, we're coming over." So you all came over and did like a little runway show, and you were half naked with a fur coat . . .