W
ith her high cheekbones,
elegant blonde coif and
perennial string of pearls,
Estée Lauder exuded old-
world, European refinement. Certainly,
she moved with ease through the upper
echelons of society – whether draped
in Christian Dior and kissing Diana
Vreeland on the cheek at the Met Gala,
hosting a dinner party for Princess Grace
of Monaco in her Manhattan townhouse,or sharing a laugh with Princess Diana
at a polo match, Lauder “exemplified
the American concept of graciousness”,
as The New York Times would write.
But the public saw what the cosmetics
tycoon wanted them to see. A master
marketer and savvy businesswoman,
she understood image was everything
and gave her personal history the same
sheen of untouchable sophistication
that she promised her customers.How a middle-class girl from
Queens reinvented herself –
and an industry – to become
one of America’s first self-
made female billionaires.
By Anne FullertonESTÉE
Lauder
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