Aaron de Mey

Portrait by Rachel Chandler

interview and portrait by RACHEL CHANDLER

 

One of purple’s favorite make-up artists, Aaron de Mey, explains how he went from New Zealand to global fashion notoriety.

RACHEL CHANDLER — You’re from New Zealand. Did you study make-up there?
AARON DE MEY — There wasn’t anything like a beauty school in New Zealand. That’s how I ended up in art school and then hairdressing school. My boyfriend Dean and I came to New York at the end of ’98 with no expectations, except taking a holiday and maybe work and seeing what could happen. When we arrived, François Nars was ending his career doing make-up. He was still doing Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui. I showed him a scrapbook with ten favorite pictures of make-up I’d done in New Zealand. He immediately took me to assist him on the shows that season,…