Celia Forner, the model with a thousand faces: "The bed is my favorite place"

Celia Forner has a determined, energetic and slightly hoarse voice. Excellent conversationalist, one of her would nudge the other to have her close to her at a dinner because she has a lot to tell. His Mallorcan house overlooks the sea and the one in London, where he treasures works by Louise Bourgeois and Francis Picabia, among other great names in art, is a neighbor of Kensington Palace.

Yes, the great model of the eighties and nineties, one of the first Spaniards to have an international tour of the first division in magazines and catwalks, has a life of the highest quality, but not exactly idle. She is a respected art collector –she took courses at Christie's and Sotheby's– and has used her experience as a model to launch Alleven, “A cosmetic brand with the vocation of bringing to the consumer the advantages of the immediate results that are sought and obtained in the catwalk," he explains. She defines herself in three words: "Persevering, loyal and a fighter".

You can have almost everything, but not at the same time”

“You can have almost everything, but not at the same time”. She tells Celia that this is some of the best advice she's ever been given. Perhaps that is why she knows how to streamline her projects even though, as a businesswoman, she would like "to be able to disconnect more often". “I am an extremely curious person and it is important for me to constantly learn.

This is how you take care of yourself

“I meditate, I try to exercise every day, I dry brush my skin in the morning, I eat well…“My Alleven must-haves are Color Shield body makeup; the Total Face Serum (cream and serum all in one) and the Stellar Mask"

Everything arises organically following my interests, which I am lucky to have many”, he says. He has learned that “only with effort, work, discipline and compassion can life be navigated. Patience is also applied in her work: “It took me five years to create the first Alleven product (the Color Shield body spray makeup used by Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, Cardi B, Emma Stone, Laura Dern, Alicia Vikander or Naomi Watts, among others). many other Hollywood stars…)”, he points out.

“It helped me to learn the tricks of the trade and having worked with the best makeup artists in the world,” she says. “They are multifunctional products, easy to use, effective and practical, something that is achieved thanks to technology and the conviction, pragmatism and perseverance behind each development”, she says.

Water or cognac? Louise Bourgeois asked him. He managed to visit–and convince–the artist to participate in Portable Art, a personal project that took him almost 10 years and for which great creators such as Cristina Iglesias, Michele Oka Donero, Paul McCarthy designed jewels that are authentic works of art. “I went to see her with Jerry Gorovoy, her right-hand man for 30 years. He spoke and moved very little, he looked like a sphinx sitting in front of his work table. It had been more than 15 years since he left home. Between water and cognac I chose cognac. I told him about the project and… well, there are the pieces”, she remembers amused.

She says that art has given her “perspective” and together with her husband, Francesco Venturi, owner of the Vendome Press publishing house, they treasure an important collection. She lives surrounded by beauty but what is the ugliest thing she has seen lately? "Ignorance and intolerance, which seem to be too common and very often go hand in hand," he replies. He is also clear about what bad taste is "Intolerance in all its facets". His most prized possession is “my family – he has two children, Allegra and Filippo and calls Gatsby, his beloved white Maltese dog his third child – and my friends”. Do you have any friends from your modeling days? “Few but good”.

Jewelry and wearable art

“For me a jewel is an object we can walk around and that reminds us of someone or something beautiful, as well as a way to adorn ourselves, embellish ourselves and empower us (in a sense tribal). It doesn't have to be a face."

“Bed is one of my favorite places.” Sneaking through the keyhole to see the private spaces of kings, designers and artists is a temptation. As the company is complicated, Celia Forner makes it easy and opens the doors of famous and anonymous beds –some of hotels and film shoots– in a delicious and well-documented book that includes almost 300 rooms decorated by the best designers.

The impressive graphic tour shows us where Napoleon Bonaparte, Cecil Beaton (with their unicorns), Louboutin, Rudolf Nureyev tried to fall asleep in the Dakota building... Among their favorites is the one designed by the art deco genius Armand Albert Rateau for the dressmaker Jean Lanvin or that of Jean Cocteau. "I am fascinated by characters like the British socialite Stephen Tennant, who spent many years of his life in bed, or Helena Rubinstein who, like Churchill, received and worked in bed."

On her nightstand

“I have some photos that bring back good memories, books, a pen, a notebook, water, cologne, lip balm… My computer and phone are not there. far".

His interest in other people's bedrooms arose from his own experience: “At the age of six I had an accident that left me in bed for six months. At that age I must have used my imagination a lot and created a fantasy world, ”she explains. As an expert in the field, what can not be missing and what is left over in most bedrooms? "For me, books cannot be missing and there is often an excess of decorative objects and cushions, what I call a dust catcher." Is there something that makes you lose sleep? “We all have our concerns,” he says.

No homesickness

“I try to avoid it. I live in the present and try to always look ahead. If I wrote my memoirs I would title them "My way"