Natasha-Fraser Cavassoni, The Woman Behind The Memoirs

Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni looks back on the personas she met throughout her life and what she learned from them.

This article was originally published on damamagazine.com

Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni (left) and Andy Warhol (right) at Regine’s. Image Credit: Courtesy of Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni.

After a childhood in England, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni worked for industry kings- Andy Warhol, Karl Lagerfeld and John Fairchild. On account of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni begun working at Lagerfeld’s Chanel studio. She then was a journalist for Fairchild’s Women’s Wear Daily and W Magazine before becoming Harper’s Bazaar European Editor.

She now works as a freelance journalist for diverse publications and is the author of Sam Spiegel — The Biography of A Hollywood Legend; Tino Zervudachi: A Portfolio; After Andy: Adventures in Warhol Land; and many other.

Laure de Gramont (left) and Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni (right) wearing a hat designed by Karl Lagerfeld. Image Credit: Courtesy of Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni.

Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni was just 16 years old when she crossed paths with Andy Warhol at Regine’s, the night club on rue de Ponthieu where musicians, aristocrats and artists partied through the 70s. She recalls that Warhol asked her “Who designed your dress?”

Smiling, Fraser-Cavassoni answered the dress wasn’t designer and had cost her 20 pounds, “He was amazed it wasn’t designer, and I was amazed he was asking me who designed it. Andy gave you the Impression you could do anything by just looking at you,” Explained Fraser-Cavassoni, “he gave a chance to many young people.” Seven years later, she was hired to work at Andy Warhol’s studio; four days before his death on February 22, 1987. “Warhol never stopped working, he always had to keep the lights on. Even when Warhol was at a night club, it was to meet people and sell his art.”

Fraser-Cavassoni recounted that Andy Warhol always wanted to meet new people, he was someone forever motivated by his curiosity. “Warhol is one of those artists who died on a low, although today his prices are higher than Picasso’s. The Art World is a cruel one.” When Valentine Solanas tried to murder Andy Warhol, Americans didn’t understand the impact of almost losing his life and, ironically declared he ‘had lost his touch’. At this time, Fred Hughes, Andy Warhol’s manager decided they should take Europe, and rightly so. “France loved Warhol, always. The French take artists in a special way, they truly appreciate them and Warhol loved France so much he had an apartment in Paris.” Once in Europe, Andy Warhol worked on a series of portraits.

Pierre Passebon (left), Christian Louboutin (middle), Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni (right) playing with wigs. Image credit: Courtesy of Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni.

In 2014, as Fraser-Cavassoni was strolling through the Chicago Fine Arts Institute, she fell nez-à-nez with a giant Mao (Warhol’s 1973 painting of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong). “I was completely struck by it’s size, and it reminded me of my relation with Andy” the inspiration struck, and Fraser started writing After Andy: Adventures in Warhol Land a memoir of the influence that Andy Warhol exerted throughout his life and beyond.

“When I was a little girl, my mum would pay us by the page for writing in our diary, she said that work should always be paid for,” recalls Fraser-Cavassoni. “I never went to university because I was too stubborn and wanted to party.” Which only meant that Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni had to work early on. Not unlike her mother, she believes that in order for it to be work, there should always be something to be gained out of work: whether it is money or experience. But, above all, work gives you a sense of achievement.

After Andy, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni started working for Lagerfeld’s Channel studio, where she learned the behind the scenes of fashion by the side of undoubtedly one of the icons of a generation. In 1991, as she wrote for Fairchild’s Women’s Wear Daily and W Magazine, Fraser-Cavassoni discovered talents like Christian Louboutin, who quickly became a close friend of hers.