EMMA
KIDD may have a famous younger sistersupermodel,
Jodiebut ride on the coat-tails of her sisters success
she has not. In fact, she started out as a model and stylist, working
on campaigns for everyone from Pretty Polly to Chanel. Modelling,
however, was something Jemma knew she never wanted to do as a profession:
it made her too nervous.
It was behind the scenes that she enjoyed the
most, so after a stint of studying various other things in an attempt
to find her passion, she sold her beloved Bedford horse box (to
prove to her parents how serious she was) and, with the proceeds,
packed herself off to make-up school in London, left her little
sister to sashay on the catwalk and has never looked back. She has
since successfully carved out her own niche in the world of beauty
as a renowned make-up artist and beauty school maven.
Born in Barbados in 1974 to polo star Johnny Kidd,
Jemmas family moved wherever the games were, so her youth
was spent amongst international blue-bloods, royalty and the jet
set. To this day, Jemma loves to visit Barbados, a place that holds
dear memories of childhood. The interest in horses rubbed off, too,
with Jemma competing in dressage all around Europe and Britain right
up until her late teens, when she decided to take time out to explore
other interests.
The Kidd family oozes talent: aside from a supermodel
sister, Jemmas brother Jack is a well known polo player, so
it was inevitable that she would soon find her own niche in which
to excel. It was whilst she was studying that make-up mæstro
to the stars, Mary Greenwell, took notice of Jemmas natural
talent and decided to take Jemma on as her number one assistant.
It was during the five years which followed that Jemma cut her teeth
in the industry,
assisting Mary at shows in Paris, Milano and London. The natural
progression was being spotted, then signed by Premier Hair and Make-up
Agency, one of Englands top talent agencies. They officially
took her on to their books in 1999, an astute move given the following
year Jemma was nominated for Make-up Artist of the Year at the Pantene
Awards in London.
Following her work with Mary Greenwell, Jemma
was appointed spokesperson for make-up giant Max Factor where she
held court for three years, and has recently become the spokespersonartist
for Rimmel Cosmetics in London. If all of that wasnt enough
to fill her days, she has also started up her own exclusive school
of make-up in London, teaching intensive six-week courses covering
everythingfrom basic foundation application to period looks,
air-brushing and make-up for the catwalk. Jemma shares the running
of the business with business partner and fellow make-up artist
Ginno Bogado. The pair met in Jemmas modelling days when Gini
was Jemmas make-up artists at shows and shoots.
Never one to do things by halvesJemmas
first ad campaign as a make-up artist was for designer Gianfranco
Ferré with celebrity Photographer Peter Lindberghshe
has since gone on to be the lead make-up artist at the catwalk shows
of fashion greats such as Jasper Conran, Philip Treacy and Scott
Henshall. She has worked on the faces of Naomi Campbell, Hélèna
Christensen, Jade Jagger, Yasmin Le Bon, Jemima Khan, Jerry Hall
and the Duchess of York to drop but a few names!
Nicola Brockie is editor-in-chief of the
print edition of Lucire.
See
the full story including a Q&A with editor-in-chief Nicola
Brockie in the April 2005 print edition of Lucire,
out in Auckland on April 6 and other parts of New Zealand
soon after.
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She has since successfully
carved out her own niche in beauty as a world-renowned make-up artist
and beauty school maven
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