FASHION Magazine

On the (high) heels of the annual spectacle that is Fashion Cares, Toronto hair guru Bill Angst reminisces about his friend and colleague, makeup artist Tony de Freitas, and the sad swath that AIDS blazed through the fashion industry.

We shot this cover for FASHION’s Holiday 1986 issue at Bruno Dayan’s studio. It was summer, very warm. The magazine’s fashion editor, Nancy Hastings, was there. Bruno, who did the coolest stuff in town and was the photographer of the moment, always amused her. (He later gave it all up to live in Japan.) Tony de Freitas was the makeup artist—and the most charming character on the planet. I was doing the model’s hair and having a difficult time, as she didn’t have any baby hair around the face to play with. Tony was always poking his hand in: “Maybe you should do this, Billy” or “Maybe you should try that, Billy.” He always called me Billy. Everyone gravitated to Tony. He always had a big smile. 

Tony was a natural with makeup—and with people. He was best friends with Dean and Dan Caten, who were then designing for Ports. This was before they moved to Milan and became Dsquared. The three of them were always together. Tony and I did hair and makeup for all the Ports shoots—as well as for Dean and Dan when they did their little drag thing. It was always different. It depended on where they were going. But they liked hats, high hats and high heels, as well as peplum jackets and short skirts—a sort of futuristic ’40s vibe. Very “now,” actually.

Way before M.A.C took over, Tony worked on Fashion Cares. He was backstage from the beginning as the lead hair and makeup guy. The event was smaller then—just a few hundred people—but it was so packed and so fun. How sad that someone who worked so hard on an event to find a cure for AIDS would later die of it. Tony was the most polished and lovely gentleman I’ve ever met in my life. He was sophisticated in his personality and in his work, and one of my favourite free spirits.

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