Didier Malige

>> The skeleton details of Grace Coddington's CV are pretty well-established at this point: a long and lustrous tenure as Vogue creative director was achieved after a terrible car accident turned her modeling career into that of a stylist and fashion editor. But a profile of Coddington in The Economist's quarterly supplement More Intelligent Life — by one of Coddington's former assistants — gives us a few less-reported details.

Coddington says of her mentor, the photographer Norman Parkinson, in the '70s: “He taught me the art of travelling, which means never closing your eyes in case you miss something. We’d get up at five and drive round on recces to see what inspired us. The approach is so different now. Photographers don’t look out the window: they want to see a location book, and everything is done on computers.”

She turns 70 in April, and admits that she, too, has changed her approach: “I got really sick last time in Paris [during Fashion Week], and I was on antibiotics for two months. I push my body too hard, and do have to stop myself now from jumping on a plane. It used to be me who got sent to Russia and China while the older editors stayed behind, but I’m one of those older ones now.”

A few more things we learned:

She's lived with Didier Malige since the '80s, but she's also been married twice: The first time was in 1969 to Michael Chow, the owner of the Mr Chow restaurant chain. It lasted six months ("I was useless at being a restaurateur’s wife — much too shy to table-hop," Coddington says). And the second time was in 1976 to a "rangy, rock'n'roll" photographer, Willie Christie, who she mentored at British Vogue. They divorced in 1980 because, Coddington says, “It’s difficult to be employed by your wife.” In between the two marriages she dated Duc, a young, Paris-based Vietnamese photographer, with whom she was in love before, during, and after her first marriage.

Coddington — known for her long, red hair — was once a blonde: In 1980, after her second divorce, Coddington turned herself into "a business-suited, short-haired blonde — what she calls a 'Calvin person.'"

She once quit while working for Anna Wintour: Coddington had been at British Vogue since 1968, but after Anna Wintour joined as editor-in-chief in March 1986, Coddington resigned in December of that year: “Anna was much more into ‘sexy’ than I was.” She rejoined Wintour at Vogue two years later because she missed working at magazines (she had been working as Calvin Klein design director in the interim: "Excitement on 7th Avenue ends with the show. The next day it’s all marketing.").

A single look for a fashion show? Not for Band of Outsiders, where there were three beauty concepts: boy-boy, boy-girl and girl-girl. The boy-boys (who were actual dudes, we know this kind of gender-bender terminology gets confusing) donned their natural hair texture, the boy-girls wore long, side-parted side-braids, and the girl-girls boasted amped-up voluminous curls. Find out what this means after the jump.

For her spring 2011 collection, Victoria Beckham went for the unexpected. From the front, models appeared to have straight — and straightforward — hair. But in the back, a seemingly sleek hairstyle revealed a wave. To provide volume, lead stylist Didier Malige prepped dry hair with Fekkai Advanced Full Volume Styling Whip. After creating a middle part and applying hair spray to add weight, he used a twin-barrel curling iron to create a single crimp in back. The result: an updated take on the mod look.

If there's one thing New York Fashion Week has taught us, it's that the '90s are back in a big way. At Proenza Schouler, Diane Kendal created a makeup look inspired by the early part of the decade. Dark matte lips and nearly bare skin were a throwback to the days of Singles.

To create this look, Kendal focused on moisturizing the skin instead of fussing with foundation. A dark brown cream base from MAC provided the eye makeup and contour underneath the cheeks. She filled in the eyebrows for depth, leaving the focus on the lip. She used Charred Red and Smoked Purple lipsticks, applying them intensely in the center. "It's not a hard line," she said. "It's quite soft." A dab of black eye shadow in the center created more intensity.

The hair was just as simple. Lead stylist Didier Malige aimed for a relaxed, no-fuss look. "It's about building a texture," he explained. "It has to look kind of static and untouched." To get the look, he worked Fekkai Coiff Bouffant through hair, squeezed it with fingers, and used Fekkai Coiff Bouffant spray gel to provide soft hold and movement. "It's the same feeling as last season," he said. Cue the Mudhoney.

Mermaid waves never go out of style, even at Fashion Week, so it's not a surprise that for the Proenza Schouler show, Frédéric Fekkai lead stylist Didier Malige was inspired by California surfer girls' tousled hair. The look was totally sexy, a little wild, and surprisingly easy to do. (And if you're so inclined, you can even spritz on a little purple and green temporary hair color to mimic the style worn by some of the models.) Fab was totally loving the chic clothing, and I liked how the creamy nude lips with smudged shadow lent a soft, party-girl effect. Want to get your tousled curl on? Check out the link below.

Get tips on achieving the oh-so-desireable look when you read more.