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Lucire 2005

Jack Yan speaks exclusively with Napoleon Perdis, the Australian behind the world-famous cosmetics’ range that bears his name

Some photographs by Jackie Meiring

Excerpted from the August 2005 print issue of Lucire

 


Napoleon Perdis

Initial capHE FIRST IMPRESSION you get of the name Napoleon is a French one—you even believe it could be Napoléon. And Perdis could be French, too, pronounced pur-dee, but you’d be wrong. The first question I asked Napoleon Perdis was about his origin, and he explained, ‘Greek.’ I might have known.
   Doing a telephone interview with the make-up artist and cosmetics’ founder and line visionary, visiting Auckland in June, meant that I could not avoid making a fool of myself, but I was quickly redeemed as we chatted about Greece itself.
   ‘I go to Greece three to four times a year,’ he explained, cementing his pride in his heritage. ‘They are very different from Greeks internationally. They are very European, and very modern.’
   Like all immigrant cultures, Perdis’s family retained, and probably amplified, their Greek traditions when arriving in Australia, while the Greece they left became part of the European Economic Community and dropped the drachma after 2,000 years. This explains why Perdis’s father wanted his son to become a lawyer, a respectable profession.
   ‘I wanted to be a make-up artist. My father was strict and wanted me to finish university. When I turned 25, I totally broke out on my own.’
   Still, he honoured his father’s request: while he did not do the final papers to be admitted to the Bar, he completed his degree and even worked as a barrister’s reader. ‘I hated it,’ Perdis recalled with some disgust, knowing it was taking him away from his calling.
   ‘I went to LA and
met the chairman of the Film Sciences [the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the organization that Oscar winners refer to as ‘the Academy’], Leonard Engelman, who was the make-up artist for Cher and Val Kilmer.’ Engelman had his own cosmetics’ line, and acted as chair for the make-up section of the awards.
   As a result of a meeting, Perdis got to work on Batman Forever as an assistant. His Hollywood career also saw him work on Kelly Rowan (who would go on to The OC) in Mocking the Cosmos in 1995.
   ‘But I realized I hated film,’ said Perdis. Perdis’s American experiences took him to New York, where he met a fellow Greek, a manufacturer of cosmetics in the United States. Afterwards, Perdis returned to Australia to start Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics, opening a flagship store at 74 Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney.
   As his reputation grew, he worked with Harper’s Bazaar Australia and Vogue Australia. ‘My proudest cover was Vogue with Gemma Ward in September 2004,’ he said. ‘Gemma used to queue up for me in Perth for my personal appearances.’
   Celebrity fans of Perdis’s line include Teri Hatcher, Paris Hilton and Paula Abdul.
   Perdis said he is inspired by ‘muses’, the strongest being Hélèna Rubinstein, and had no mentor for his work. ‘She started in Melbourne [in 1902], then went on to the world. At her [peak], she was bigger than Estée Lauder and L’Oréal put together.’ He saw parallels: ‘I follow a similar path.’

Subscribe or purchase single copiesRead the full story, including Napoleon Perdis’s plans for his training schools, in the August 2005 issue of Lucire, on sale August 8.
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Jack Yan is founding publisher of Lucire.

 

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Lucire: fashion magazine homeLucire Fashion FeaturesLucire Living and Beauty Lucire Volante: travel, accommodation guide Lucire fashion news, bulletins and events Fashion shopping guide and directory
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