Parisisoneofthose
places thatevenwith
a verysmallbudget,
there’ssomuch that
you can do and enjoy.Megan Hess
Thefashionillustratoronherbigbreak,live-drawing
runway shows and eating in Paris on a budget.
EATING WITH
What’ssomethingyouremembereating
whenyouweregrowingupinQueensland?
Mangoes.Wehadmangotreesandyou
couldactuallysmellwhentheywereripe.
Youknowhowyouassociatecertain
fruitswiththebeginningofsummer?
For me, it was definitely mangoes.Whendidyoufirstknowthatyoucould
illustrate?I can’tremembernotdrawing.
Atschool,I starteddrawingotherkids,
andI remembertheteachersayingtomy
parents,“Theykindoflooklikethem.”
Thedrawingswerenotgreat,butthey
were the beginnings of something.Inyournewbook,Elegance, youwrite
thatCocoChanelgotherbreakina
café.Whathelpedkickstartyourcareer?
Fashionillustrationis sonicheand
hard,andI wasonthevergeofgiving
uponit.ThenI gota callandwasasked
toillustratethecoverofSexandtheCity.
I’ddonea littleillustrationinItalian
Vogue, whichauthorCandaceBushnell
hadseen.Shecontactedherpublisher
inNewYorkandsaid,“Whoeverdrew
thiswouldbegoodforthenewlook
ofSexandtheCity.” Andthenit was
everywhere:ontopoftaxisinNewYork
and on billboards. That was my big break.You’vesinceworkedforfashionhouses
suchasLouisVuitton,PradaandDior.
Wastherea particularjobthatyouwere
reallyexcitedtoget?I alwaysstayreally
calmwhena luxurybrandcontactsme,
thenI’lldoa laparoundthestudioand
screamandhugeveryone.Theproject
thatI didforFendiandKarlLagerfeld
was the one that, creatively, I was themostexcitedandnervousabout.I wasin
Parisbythetimethecampaignhadgone
live,andI haddinnerwithMartina,my
marketingmanager,andweweretalking
abouthowluckywewerethatoutof
anyone,anywhereintheworld,I was
theonethatgottodoit.Butingeneral,
I alwaysthinkit’sgoodtocelebrateeven
littlethingsthathappen,becauseI was
alwaysinthatmindsetof,“Whenthis
nextthinghappens,everythingwillbe
great.”AndI realisedthatthenyou’re
never living in the moment.InElegance, youwrite,“Parismakesthe
ordinaryextraordinary:froma freshly
bakedbaguettewrappedinbeautiful
papertoa cornerstorethatwillboxyour
singlemacaronwitha silkribbon.”What
aresomeofyourParismemories?I always
refertomylifebeforetheSexandtheCity
coverandaftertheSexandtheCitycover.
I dida lotoftravellinginmyearlyyears
whenI wasbroke.AndParisis oneof
thoseplacesthatevenwitha very,very
smallbudget,there’ssomuchthatyou
candoandenjoy– there’ssomuchthat
you can see that doesn’t cost anything.Wheredidyouenjoyeatingonthe
cheapinParis?Atreallynondescript
bakeriesthatyoupassrandomly,
chancesarethebreadandthepastries
aregoingtobethebestthingyou’ve
everhad,eventhoughit’snotthe
mostexpensivefoodtoeatinParis.
WhenI couldn’taffordtodoa lot,
justgettingfreshbread,goingtothe
Tuileries,walkingaroundandseeingthe
architecture,orgettingthecheeseplate
from a little brasserie, that was amazing.38 GOURMET TRAVELLER