Ageless Style: 40s

Fashion isn’t always taken seriously at Canadian museums. But when Nathalie Bondil, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’s racy new director, kick-started her mandate with the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective, it was clear that change was in the air.

“I’m interested in fashion as art, as a form of expression,” muses Bondil. Inspired by the Met’s Costume Institute and the Louvre’s Musée de la Mode et du Textile, Bondil is determined to bring more high fashion to the museum—she cites Gaultier and Alaïa as personal favourites. Right now, she’s working on a major Chinese costume and fashion exhibition for 2010. “While in China, I discovered an avant-garde Chinese designer, Ma Ke, who makes haute couture with the simplest materials. Extraordinary.”

Bondil always brings back traditional costumes and accessories from her exotic voyages. “I keep my baubles, purses or scarves around as memories of my trips to markets or antique dealers. I have a collection of necklaces from every country I’ve visited. I deeply admire the know-how of traditional craftsmen, whose livelihoods are threatened. Later, I’d like to look like an old suitcase covered with stickers from all over the world.”

You won’t see this director sporting a Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit or an Armani tailleur for her many meetings. In fashion, as in life, the 42-year-old South of France native does things her own way—with a très Latin touch of humour. Elsa Schiaparelli, Frida Kahlo, Björk and Vivienne Westwood are among her style inspirations. “I’m a bit of an eccentric. For day, a man’s waistcoat is less serious than a woman’s tailored vest—I’ll combine it with feminine shoes, and a smile.” So, of course, high heels are the most important items in her closet. “They give you extra inches and a slim silhouette. I wear them all day and plan on keeping them on even in my grave.”

Bondil is unlikely to tone down her eccentricity as she gets older. “Others often end up telling you what they think is inappropriate—your daughter, for example. It doesn’t mean you have to listen. Mine is only 10, so I still have a few years of respite!”

And the best thing about being in her 40s? “I don’t have to worry as much about my looks as I used to when I was 15. After all,” she concludes, quoting Saint-Exupéry, “‘What is essential is invisible to the eye.’”

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