A true master of his craft, makeup artist Paul Starr is a maestro in the highest regard. Creating an entirely new philosophy on glamour, Starr believes that beauty does not lay in the physical form, but is projected from inside. “Makeup is only a tool to enhance the woman,” explained Starr in a recent interview. He has taken this ideology and applied it to the world’s most glamorous faces. Working with both classic and current film headliners, his portfolio is a who’s who of Hollywood. Starr’s clients include Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Garner, and Scarlett Johansson, just to name a few. He has even honed his jaw-dropping makeup techniques on idiosyncratic personalities of David Bowie and Boy George.
As the current director of Estée Lauder’s national makeup artist team, he masterfully blends art and glamour onto every face that his brushes come across. Starr’s latest venture, Paul Starr on Beauty, is a fascinating new book that candidly examines many of his genius techniques on 30 of Hollywood’s most celebrated women. Paul Starr recently spoke to CaptureLife about his beloved clients, top makeup picks and finding the natural beauty that lies within every woman…
At just 21-years old, Miami-based designer Esteban Cortazar has already established quite the name for himself in the world of fashion. His collections have caught the attention of everyone from Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell to Todd Oldham and 8th on Sixth’s Fern Mallis, who personally chose Cortazar to open the Spring 2004 Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week.
Born in Colombia, as the only child of jazz singer Dominique Vaughan and artist Valentino Cortazar, Esteban learned about the creative process early on in his childhood. In 1995, he moved from Bogotá to his father’s apartment above the legendary News Cafe on Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive. Transfixed by the vibrant life of his surroundings, Cortazar soon adapted the sights and sounds of SoBe into his developing fashion designs, and in 1997, a curious Cortazar met esteemed fashion designer Todd Oldham. After Esteban introduced himself and showed off a few of his sketches, Oldham was so taken by the talent of this enthused prodigy, he invited Cortazar to be a guest at his upcoming show in New York.
Inspired by the runways at Olympus Fashion Week, a motivated Cortazar returned home to design a nine-piece collection for his talent show at South Pointe Elementary School. Esteban brought together pieces on a child’s budget, “I had no money, so money wasn’t an object. It was about creating a collection with what I had — what was in my closet at the time or what I found at a thrift store.” Within two years, Esteban designed a 30-piece collection for his unofficial debut at Miami International Fashion Week. The show garnered Cortazar industry respect and generated a tremendous amount of media buzz within the local and international fashion communities. In March 2002, Esteban presented a bold and elegant 14-piece evening wear collection under the CORTAZAR label and within four months, his designs had made it to the windows of Bloomingdales on 5th Avenue.
Esteban’s personable attitude and beautiful clothes have attracted the likes of supermodels Naomi Campbell and Carmen Kass, who modeled many of the 24 looks in his Fall 2003 collection. The show was a huge success and his designs started to appear in prestigious department stores like Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue. For Cortazar’s highly anticipated Spring 2004 collection, longtime friend Cindy Crawford came out of retirement to open and close his show and her closing look was a stunning, floor-length gown made entirely of Swarovski crystal mesh.
Cortazar has gained accomplishments far beyond his years, and his astute ability to create one-of-a-kind designs has propelled him to the forefront of the fashion world.