When I was 16 I worked at the mall, folding jeans, ringing up customers, and being forced to try and persuade people to sign up for the store's credit card. When you're the daughter of supermodel Kate Moss and co-founder of Dazed Media Jefferson Hack, your first job is being the face of Marc Jacobs Beauty, starring in ad campaigns and getting your hair and makeup done by some of the best in the business.
It was just five days after Lila Grace Moss turned 16 that Marc Jacobs and his makeup line, Marc Jacobs Beauty, announced that she would be the newest face of the brand. “Lila’s beauty, composure, patience and kindness made this project even more special than I could have imagined. With each look we photographed, she got into each character effortlessly and gracefully. Thank you, Lila, for being a part of this extremely special project and thank you, @katemossagency and @jeffersonhack for allowing us the privilege to work with your beautiful daughter," Jacobs wrote in a post on his Instagram account.
And it was just a week after that initial announcement that I had the chance to sit down with Lila Grace at Harvey Nichol's in London, after an event for Marc Jacobs Beauty's upcoming Leopard Frost Collection, for which Moss is the face. While her mom was shopping around the store and makeup artist Michael Ashton — who had just done a demonstration on Lila in front of a room full of beauty editors and influencers — answered questions in the event space next door, Lila Grace and I sipped our waters at the Harvey Nichol's cafe before the up-and-coming model had to go to school.
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"When my mom told me [I got the campaign] I was so excited," Lila Grace said of how she found out the news. "I've done stuff with my mom and my dad's magazine but nothing by myself for a big company." And while her mom and Marc Jacobs are close friends after years of working together (Kate walked the runway in his famous 1992 "Grunge Collection" for Perry Ellis a whopping two-and-half decades ago) this wasn't just a phone-a-friend sort of deal. The designer booked Lila Grace through Kate's new modeling agency, which represents both herself, her daughter, veteran model Jamie Bochert, singer Rita Ora, and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie, to name a few.
Kate Moss has been vocal on the fact that Lila Grace's decision to model was entirely her own, and that she would never feel pressured to go into the family business. But after years of tagging along with her mom for what is probably the coolest version of "bring your kid to work day," ever, Lila caught the modeling bug. "I loved going to watch her on shoots. I think because I've seen it since I was so small it's always been an interest," she explained. "When I did my first modeling shoot, I was like, Yeah I enjoyed it. I want to do more. And I think it's worked out really well."
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Like any 16-year-old, the opportunity to travel to New York City for the shoot was one of her favorite parts of the Marc Jacobs Beauty gig. "It's a different place, it's not London so that was really exciting for me," she said. And while New York is fairly unfamiliar to the younger Moss, being on set was sort of like a fashion family reunion. "I loved being with [photographer] David Sims and [stylist] Katie Grand because I knew them from before. So that was really nice and comfortable."
Hairstylist Guido and makeup artist Diane Kendal — both Allure contributors and mainstays backstage during fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris — were on set as well. "Guido was giving me lots of tips," Lila Grace laughed. "Whenever he came to do my hair or fix my hair he was just like, 'Do this, do this.'"
When it comes to makeup, however, Moss knows her way around an eye shadow palette. "I love watching NikkieTutorials. She's so good and so talented. And she's really funny. I met her in Paris, which was cool!" Moss said when I asked her how she's learned to do her makeup. "I also love watching Kylie Jenner's Snapchat stories, when she applies her makeup every day, cause she does it really close up which I like." Lila Grace also has her mom to look to for makeup tips, although, you won't find Kate wearing contour or breaking out a lip kit. Her secrets are much subtler: "She tells me to always make [my makeup look] natural and she loves curling her eyelashes. Everyone finds that a bit scary but I do it every day because of her."
To no one's surprise, it turns out Kate Moss is a cool mom, though, and doesn't freak out when Lila Grace has experimented with makeup in the past (unlike my parents, who screamed at me to wipe off the lime green eyeliner I tried out in fourth grade and made fun of me for my raccoon eyes when I was a sophomore in high school). "I remember the first time I put mascara on I was really embarrassed," remembered Lila. "I went downstairs and [my mom] was like, 'Do you have mascara on?' I was like, 'No,' and we went back and forth like that a few times until I was like, 'Okay fine' and she was like, 'It looks good!" I was really excited and then the first night I wore makeup out was actually my twelfth or thirteenth birthday and I wore eyeliner and I was so excited. But then I couldn't get it off later."
As the face of Marc Jacobs Beauty, Lila Grace has some pretty high-quality makeup to play with now. "I love the Velvet Noir Mascara," she said (same girl, same). "It's amazing. It makes my lashes so long. And I love the [new] Leopard Frost Palette, especially the coppery-orange shade [inside] because I always use a copper-orange shade 'cause my eyes are green so it makes them stand out."
The last thing I wanted to know was if Kate gave Lila Grace any advice before her first big beauty shoot. "She told me, 'Do what they tell you to do,' which I did," said Lila. But it turns out the biggest lesson Moss has passed along to her daughter in terms of her career has gone unspoken between the two. "I think keeping your personal life a bit more separate from your professional life is quite important," said Lila Grace. "She hasn't said that directly to me but I think that's what I've learned from her over the years."
Before Lila Grace and I said goodbye, we chatted about the makeup Ashton had done on her and how much she liked it. I asked if she'd keep her makeup on for school. "I wish I could," she laughed, and it was at that point when I realized one, how long I've been out of high school and two, what Moss may have been getting at it when she mentioned her mom's unspoken words of advice. "I mean, I would if I could, but they'll definitely ask me to wipe it off."
The Marc Jacobs Beauty Leopard Frost collection launches in the U.S. online on December 18, 2018 at Sephora.com, Marcjacobsbeauty.com, Net-a-porter.com, Neimanmarcus.com, and Bergdorfgoodman.com and in-store on January 4, 2019.
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