Once, at Fashion Week, Gucci Westman Worked Through Appendicitis

For beauty editors and models alike, editorial makeup artist Gucci Westman is one of the most zen people you'll come across backstage during New York Fashion Week. Maybe it's due to Chinese herb supplements she's recently gotten into, or the energizing dance-cardio class she's currently obsessed with, or even the multitude of Organic Avenue booster shots she'll chug, but over the course of the next seven days, the Rag & Bone–clad artist — thanks to husband, David Neville, one half of the brand's design team — keeps it together like the best of them.

She already had completed a few shoots in Vogue and Vanity Fair (thanks to jobs with Annie Leibovitz and Grace Coddington) by the late nineties, but her first backstage gig was for Tommy Hilfiger in 2000. "I remember someone asked me, 'What other shows are you doing?' and I was like, 'Oh, I am not sure yet,'" she said of those early, not-so-booked days. "I gave that answer because I didn't have any on my schedule yet." But after 25 years doing of NYFW, she has a bit more choice in the matter: This season, she'll do five shows, including Oscar de la Renta, Rag & Bone, and J. Mendel. While back there, she's also Revlon's global artistic director and uses Fashion Week to test-drive upcoming products. At last season's Oscar de la Renta show, she painted models' cheeks and lips with creamy makeup sticks. And now, come April, those Baby Sticks will be available for your at-home pleasure.

A few days before the madness begins, the petite, usually makeup-free (yet still complexion-glorious) artist sat down with the Cut to discuss the evolution of Fashion Week, how the Internet is impacting fashion coverage, and some of her must-have backstage beauty products. 

Via: Once, at Fashion Week, Gucci Westman Worked Through Appendicitis