CHRISTOPHER BARTLEY: This was not a typical fashion shoot. Did it make you discover or rethink anything about yourself or your style?
CÉLINE DION: Well, I’m already rethinking everything. I honestly love photo shoots, and I love everything about art and making photo shoots. It was interesting to see myself in this distorted fish-eye effect, where your head is bigger than your body, or your body’s bigger than your head. One foot is a size 12 and the other is a size 4. It’s very artistic.
CB: What was your favorite of the looks?
CD: I liked very much the Saint Laurent look with the tutu. I mean, who would dare to look under my skirt? Honestly, who would dare? Can you answer that?
CB: Valentin Herfray would.
CD: I just like that we didn’t care. If you don’t take chances, you will never accomplish anything different, special, edgy, beautiful, any of the above.
CB: Your recent looks tend more toward the extreme, yet you always retain your dignity and a sense of grace. So you might be on the street in a leotard, but you look regal. There’s an element of humor, but you’re never the joke. In this new evolution of your personal style, what is important to you, besides having fun, obviously, and how do you expect clothes to make you feel?
CD: I seek clothes that make me feel sexy, approachable, fierce, edgy, glamorous, fun. And thank God I have two stylists, Pepe Muñoz and Sydney Lopez, who help me to look my best and not always wear the same thing, because honestly I am almost uncontrollable. I try to buy everything in the world. And they are there, compromising with me like, “Okay, Celine, you like this, this, this, this, this, and that, and they all have feathers. Is it okay to do 2 out of 8? Can you choose 2 of your favorite 8 looks with the feathers?” trying to make a deal because honestly I’m just crazy.
CB: But you have a great instinct, it seems.
CD: I’m crazy about clothes. They help me to express myself, borrowing characters to help me perform. It’s like songs. I don’t do ballads all the time; I have uptempo songs as well. So I don’t want to wear gowns on stage all the time. Sometimes I want to be a little bit more edgy. But I will never please everybody in the world. And everybody will have something to say. My understanding with my songs is that no one person will like everything. With my clothes, no one person will like everything. The goal is not to shock people, but it’s okay sometimes to look different.
CB: What would we be surprised to learn about your wardrobe? What is something in there that no one would expect is there?
CD: Well first of all, I have, don’t tell anybody, okay? But I have kept everything. It’s very difficult for me to get rid of one piece of anything. It’s not because I don’t want to share it. It’s because it means something to me. I’ve sung in it, I’ve walked in it, I’ve met my fans in it, I’ve had an experience in it. I lived with that piece of clothing. And it’s very difficult for me to let go of that. I feel like a part of me is still in it. It helped me to achieve things.
CB: What do you wear on a lazy Sunday?
CD: Oh my gosh, this is what people want to see, eh? Yeah, right? Okay, I’ll tell you. A lot of times, I would wear my PJs all day. I’m with my kids, and it will be breakfast all day. I would just rest and be in my pajamas. But sometimes I would wear my nicest gowns, like I would have a date. Take a hot bath, put a chignon, put my beautiful jewelry, and go in the bathtub, and feel like I’m Liberace.
CB: Dressing up just for yourself.
CD: Everything that I do in fashion is for myself first, of course.
CB: How do you relate your body to the clothes?
CD: I want to be the canvas of what I wear. Because when I look at myself in the mirror without any clothes, all I see is the canvas, so I want to take care of that part. That’s my goal: the inside out. If I need to work on my arms better, or on my core, or on my legs, or whatever, I have a ballet teacher, and this is a new passion of mine, which is helping me to achieve [total] mind, body, and soul.
CB: Right now everyone is hyper-aware of their health and well-being. Are you very devoted to specific foods or supplements? Are you someone who’s very connected to that part of wellness? Or are you more of an overall wellness type of person?
CD: I would have a tendency to go more toward exercising. Also my way of meditation, which I do at night when I’m done with my day. And I don’t go to bed trying to sleep. I meditate for half an hour. If I have little aches and pain somewhere, I visualize the tendons and the muscles and the blood flow and try to heal myself. In general, I would recommend people to be aware of their bodies. That would be my thing to say.
CB: I think that’s the best answer, but it’s that’s something most people have a tough time with.
CD: I mean, once your body is starting to say something, you have to be very, very in tune with it.
CB: At the Paris shows, you’re a devoted regular. A lot of editors and stylists go, and they don’t actually enjoy the shows. They go because it’s compulsory, and they complain about it. You go, and you show such a pure fascination and admiration. What is the experience like for you each season
CD: Well first of all, if they’re not enjoying it, they’re losing their time, and life is short, so they should do something else. When I go, I really feel privileged to be there. And if I’m there, it’s because I want to be there. You probably know that I’m very busy. I’m just finishing 16 years of [Vegas] shows, doing some tours in between when I’m off. Everybody says, “Oh, she’s off.” I’m never off, trust me, okay? There’s no “off” button on my phone. First of all, I don’t have a phone. There’s no “off” button anywhere…