Industry, Now
HONEY
HONEY
Portrait by Ben Hassett for Models.com
#IndustryNow The cycles of social media impel us to embrace then move on from trends and discourses faster than ever before. The life span of a single work––an editorial, a campaign, a show, a stint––is shorter for it. Fashion’s only unconditional term is the future: operating a year ahead, after all. So, in an industry where change and relevancy are the full stops at the end of every sentence, Models.com wanted to highlight individuals who add permanence to the community–some at their start and some at their top. Photographer Ben Hassett gets up close and personal for Models.com with the creative forces often behind the scenes. They are the Industry, Now.
As sweet as can be, it was by chance that manicurist Honey clawed her way into the fashion industry. A nail art wunderkind, the Brooklyn native has been obsessed with transforming tiny canvases since her high school days in the late 80s and flipped working into a salon into a full-time editorial career. The artist has naturally been vetted by the top industry image-makers, regularly working with Steven Klein, Tim Walker, Daniel Jackson, and Mario Sorrenti to create a range of work that encompasses the colorfully over-the-top to the naturally subtle. Ever the meticulous painter, Honey is an example that your craft is only as limited as your imagination.
Is fashion and beauty better than it once was?
I don’t think so. It has slowly grown, it changes a lot but I also think when you look up certain references or something that has been done, it’s all perspective. Things are great if you add your own flavor to it.
Do you think it’s hard to do something new? Is that always the ultimate challenge?
Yes and no. Some people don’t like change. But in fashion, artists are always looking for the next move, something different, they have their own ideas. With fashion, certain things turn but I’m always like I’ll just do me. I’ll make my own trend. Setting trends I think it takes a more directional approach than following them for sure.
You’re one of the premiere manicurists in the business. Have the reasons why you started doing nails and manicures changed along the way or was this always the plan?
Oh no, for me, never. I just love nails, I wanted to be an artist. I’m more of a painter, not a drawer so I see more color than line. I just came out doing nails, I got it as a gift from my mom. When I graduated 8th grade in Brooklyn, I taught myself to do nails and got a job when I was in high school at a salon and I had a mentor that schooled me on acrylic. Then Governor Cuomo, not Andrew but his father [Mario Matthew Cuomo] came out with this license thing for New York back in 95. So I went to school to get my license.
So has it changed? Yes and no; It has changed because there is consistent product, inventions are getting better. Nails were always around though, that’s the thing. So I feel a lot of change, but it really is not that much of a change. Nails are art and they still inspire me.
What was a turning point for you in your career?
I guess when I started doing freelance. Before I was actually working in the East Village and every nationality was in a really tiny salon called Go Girl. I met a lot of cool people and they were like “Hey do you want to go on a shoot?” Got thrown to the wolves, got thrown in the fire, but I just learned the stuff along the way.
That was kind of the turning point, pretty much when I was asked to go. And then the same salon, the owner, she was a socialite. She introduced me to one of the old techs that were there. We used to have fun. Now I think New York is just mad commercial because of change. You have to roll with the punches. No one likes changes on certain things but it just has to change. I always say change is good, but I am going to move slow with it though.
Hi im a new face of Greece my agency is D management milan and the legion Greece M A
hi my name is eleonora and I’m studying fashion in Rome