Maripol

The stylist, who also counts herself as a photographer, designer and film producer, was responsible for creating Madonna’s look during her bangle-tastic bridesmaid Like a Virgin era. She also influenced the style of Grace Jones, Debbie Harry and Cher, as well as being art director for the Italian fashion brand Fiorucci in the early 1980s.

She moved from her native France in the 1970s to NYC. After moving downtown with her boyfriend, the

photographer Edo Bertoglio (whom she had moved from Paris to be with), the pair found a run-down loft space and started to throw parties and photograph friends there.

Maripol would style them with jewellery she had designed herself because she was

unable to find anything she liked. These friends included Keith Haring, Jean-Michel

Basquiat and, of course, Madonna, whom she met on a night out at Roxy – Madonna

had admired her bra. sounds blissful, a too-good-to-be-true time when a creative couple could have a

studio in the centre of a city and hang out with art stars. How does it make her feel that New York and London, once the creative capitals of the world, are now too expensive for young artists? “I am so glad

you’ve brought this up. It makes me mad. Kids today are being pushed further and further from the city – artists are being made to move out of areas they’veregenerated.”

As someone who has influenced popular culture immensely, but without their own name becoming mainstream, it is clearly a topic close to her heart. So how does she

feel now that underground ideas can turn mainstream in a matter of moments? She laughs.

“Andy Warhol said that everyone

will be famous for 15 minutes, but with

social media, everyone is famous all of the

time. Especially on Instagram!” Is she on it?

“I resisted for many years,

” she sighs,

“but my son convinced me to go on it. Then he shouts at me for putting up too many

pictures and says that’s for Facebook. But I am not going to let anyone dictate what my life is about.