What more can be said about Australia’s golden girl and L’Oréal Paris brand partner Asher Keddie? In the limelight for more than two decades, she’s as familiar and beloved as a family member. So, who better to tell us what she’s really like than her husband, the artist Vincent Fantauzzo?
photographY Tim Ashton/After Winter.
STYLING Naomi Smith.
HAIR Daren Borthwick/Artist Group.
MAKEUP Isabella Schimid.
MANICURE Ruby Hardcastle/Lady Bug Nails.
CREATIVE DIRECTION Rebecca Rhodes.
PRODUCTION Nicola Hanratty.
Asher wears Beare Park shirt, $380; Venroy top, $100; Stella McCartney x H&M pants, $199; Uniqlo belt, $49.90; Miu Miu shoes, $3500; Celine bracelet, $1500, charms (from left) $560, $1150 and $870, and rings, $750 (top) and $870.
Beauty note Asher uses L’Oréal Paris Age Perfect Day Cream, $39.99; Lumi Glotion in Light Glow, $39.99; Lumi Le Bronzer Le Stick Soleil in Toasted Sunlight, $30.99; True Match Super Blendable Foundation in 3C, $33.99; Infallible 3-Second Setting Mist, 75ml, $29.99.
“I saw him taking the rubbish bins out and I thought ... OK, I might get out of the car”
Hermès jacket, $47,250, top, $4725, and shorts, $4515; Michael Hill earrings, $2299 each, necklace, $16,999, and ring, $2499.
Bottega Veneta top, $2980; Sportmax sunglasses, $495.
photographY TIM ASHTON STYLING NAOMI SMITH
Asher Keddie OK, so this might be a little stop-start, but ...
Vincent Fantauzzo I like to interrupt Asher all the time.
Asher Remember, sarcasm doesn’t transfer to print. OK, the first thing marie claire wants to know is: “Tell us how you met and the beginning of your love story.”
Vincent In 2012, I was doing a project, 30 Portraits in 30 Days, of inspirational Australians, and my good friend [chef] Matt Moran suggested Asher. So Asher got a call – and then what happened?
Asher [laughs] I got a call. And I said, “Oh no, I don’t know about that.” I was shooting Offspring at the time; I was very busy. I was living in the country, looking after loads of horses as well. And I ...
Vincent She looked me up, saw how handsome I was ...
Asher [laughs] ... and changed my mind. Anyway, we were meant to meet at a certain time, I think it was a Friday morning, and then my plan was to head up to the farm and have my one day off in I think about three months. So I was looking forward to that.
Vincent I was looking after [my son] Luca and I was scrambling in the morning to get him to daycare. I got to my studio; it was disgustingly dirty. I was late. I snuck in the back door to take the rubbish out. So I was even later [laughs].
Asher I saw him wheeling the rubbish bins out, and I thought, Oh gosh, he just looked incredibly chaotic and all over the shop, just really chaotic ...
Vincent So much has changed.
“I’m understanding for the first time in my life what self-worth actually means to me, and I truly own it now”
Bottega Veneta top, $2980, and skirt, $32,050.
Beauty note On Asher’s eyes: L’Oréal Paris Haute Couleur Khol Eyeliner in Noir Silk, $19.99; Paradise Le Shadow Stick in Alluring Rose, Magnetic Mauve and Captivating Sepia, $25.99 each; Telescopic Extensionist Mascara in Black, $32.99; Infallible Faux Brow Eyebrow Pen in Light Brunette, $29.99.
Stella McCartney x H&M blazer, $399, and pants, $249; Scanlan Theodore shirt, $220; Ralph Lauren Collection tie, $499; Christian Louboutin shoes, $1645.
“We have a really robust little family unit. We all love each other so, so much, and admire each other for our differences”
“You don’t love it, but you are high intensity”
“I’m understanding for the first time in my life what self-worth actually means to me, and I truly own it now as opposed to it being a performative thing, which I think it has been for many years in my life”
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Asher ... and devastatingly handsome, and I thought, OK, I might get out of the car. So we walked towards each other. And – we have the same version of this story, because we felt the same thing – as we walked towards each other there was a very strange ...
Vincent It’s giving me goosebumps now to think about it.
Asher ... familiarity and knowing that we were in the right moment at the right time, so we spent about an hour and a half together.
Vincent It was really something I’ve never felt before. I remember I was taking photos of you, and I couldn’t look through the lens, I had to look over the top because I couldn’t stop staring at you.
Asher I think we really did know something on a very unusual, deep level that day that we met and we had our first conversation with each other. I know it sounds crazy. Suffice to say we were together from that point on, and it’s close to 15 years now. The next question is: “How would you describe your family?”
Dior shirt, $4600, and pants, $6300.
Vincent I think we are all the same, but very different. There’s four different personalities [with 16-year-old Luca and 11-year-old Valentino], all kind of complementing each other, clashing with each other, filling all the gaps in ...
Asher Learning from each other.
Vincent We are so lucky.
Asher We have a really robust little family unit. We all love each other so, so much, and admire each other for our differences. Vincent The kids are so clever. Obviously, they didn’t get that from me.
Asher That’s not true.
Vincent They’re very, very sporty. They love soccer. They’re so passionate. They love all sports.
Asher We’re a seven-day-a-week sporting family.
Vincent Asher lives by the side of the soccer pitch. And when the kids are playing, you should hear her, it’s quite, quite something.
Asher Now, marie claire wants to know: “What are your hopes for your kids’ futures? What lessons do you hope you’re imparting to them?”
Vincent Umm, I ...
Asher Is this your interview?
Vincent Yes [both laugh]. I’ll say what I think first because you’ll steal my comments. I just want them to do whatever they’re passionate about in life. I just want them to not feel any pressure from us and be themselves.
Asher Nice, I concur. Also, my hope is that we are imparting a good deal of integrity and honesty and empathy, which they both have in spades. I really hope that when they become adults, because they really are young men now, I hope when they get to the stage where they’re moving out of home – [gasps] which I kind of can’t stand the thought of yet ...
Vincent They may never. Asher spoils them so much.
Asher OK, next is: “What’s your favourite thing about coming home to each other?” I’ll answer first. My favourite thing is that we can’t wait to share with each other what has been going on during the day, whether it’s difficult or it’s exciting or it’s hopeful or whatever, you’re the first person I want to talk to.
Vincent I love a daily debrief or, if one of us has been out, to hear what’s been happening. I think it’s good too that we have our own careers, creative.
Asher “Describe your perfect day together.”
Vincent I love it when we go watch the boys play their sports.
Asher Me too.
Vincent And come home and cook that night and watch the footy.
Asher You stole my favourite thing. That’s definitely our perfect day. The boys like to have family dinners as much as we can. And then we watch our football club Collingwood play, and we all sit around yelling at the TV.
Vincent Asher yells at the TV and swears.
Asher Next: “If your walls could talk ...”
Vincent Thank God they can’t talk!
Asher [laughs] “... how would they describe a day in the life of your family?” Oh, my gosh.
Vincent High intensity.
Asher Mayhem. Yes, high intensity would be the answer. Which I like. You don’t love it, but you are high intensity.
Vincent The amount of times bedtime comes and I’ve been told off for riling the boys up before bed. My peak ADHD moment.
Asher Vincent’s favourite thing to do at bedtime, around nine o’clock at night, is to start wrestling with the boys. That’s a real treat for me, trying to settle everybody [both laugh].
Asher “Vincent, what’s one thing you want our readers to know about Asher?”
Vincent Asher is one of the most loyal, loving people – like often you go into a character and I watch you perform, and it’s like I’m not watching you. At home, you’re Mummy, and you make us feel together. Asher’s the core.
Asher So this is kind of work talk now: “How do you balance a household and relationship with two big, creative careers?”
Vincent I don’t.
Asher That’s an interesting question, because funnily enough things have aligned kind of divinely for us over the last 15 or so years. Generally, when I am shooting and going through a really intense shoot period, which never really lasts for more than three months, Vinnie paints every day. However, he’s able to step in and pick up the things that I normally do. I’m usually still coordinating the boys’ routines, and you just kind of fulfill them.
Vincent Asher will order me food from set, even from another state.
Asher I do; I don’t think we’ve done it from another country yet. Things are very, very heavily coordinated and scheduled when I’m shooting so that Vinnie can spend his time focusing on driving them around, cooking for them, and making sure they get to school the next morning with what they need.
Vincent They’re my specialties: driving and cooking.
Asher It just seems to work out; we don’t have hard and fast rules about working and not working.
Vincent We both have very intense work moments and where it takes, like, a really big commitment. Because we both share that, we understand when you’re in the zone and you need to get things done, you just ...
Asher ... the other one steps in and carries a bit more of the load. The next question is: “Asher, do you have a favourite artwork of Vincent’s, and Vincent, do you have a favourite show of Asher’s?” I do have a favourite artwork. Vincent painted Valentino when he was probably three; he was in the bath and he was roaring – he thought it was really fun. Vincent photographed it and then painted it, and it’s a really huge painting and it just captures the spirit of Val. There’s a twinkle in his eye because he’s having such fun, squealing in the bath. That’s my favourite painting.
Bottega Veneta blazer, $5750, pants, $2170, scarf, $400, and shoes, $2380.
Vincent I love that.
Asher What’s your favourite show that I’ve done? Well, you haven’t seen many [laughs].
Vincent No, I have. With Offspring, I got to see a lot of your input into the character and your humour, and I can see you in there a lot. There are so many scenes that stand out where I can see your quirkiness and your fun.
Asher “What has the other person done that you’re most proud of?”
Vincent You can go first.
Asher I was really proud to watch you achieve something that I know meant a lot to you on many levels, and that was to become a professor at RMIT, where you studied. I thought that was really significant because I know how hard-won it was to move through university for Vinnie. That was possibly my proudest moment of you.
Vincent I am really proud that you’ve really challenged yourself, and you’re producing, and you’re making jobs for other people. My brain can’t even imagine how complicated it is, and you’re doing it really well. I’m proud of that.
Asher “Vincent, your memoir was so open and vulnerable. What was it like for you both to have it out in the world?” It was a very vulnerable moment.
Vincent And it still is.
Asher It was exciting and it felt like an enormous achievement for you, and I was so proud of you too, in fact, maybe that’s the thing I’m most proud of, is that you found your voice and you were able to ...
Vincent I’m a dyslexic author.
Asher ... you were able to find the courage to share with other neurodiverse people and many other readers, but what you’d experienced in your childhood, which was incredibly challenging, obviously, for anyone that’s ever read the book.
Vincent There were a lot of things that I’d never spoken out loud about. I spoke to Asher first and shared things that even we hadn’t talked about. It was bonding and difficult and challenging, but you had my back through that process.
Asher It was an amazing, shared journey when you wrote that book.
Vincent One one one.
Asher Oh, we keep getting these triple numbers or/and quadruple numbers, like 11 11, and one one one all the time, all the time for the last two months.
Vincent Something’s happening.
Asher There’s plenty happening [both laugh]. “Are you each other’s sounding boards for your projects?”
Vincent Definitely.
Asher Definitely.
Vincent We don’t always listen to each other.
Asher No, we hear each other’s opinion about things, and then we make our own choices.
Vincent And the opinion is coming from a place of protection and love.
Asher OK, next: “Asher, do you have any upcoming projects you’re excited about that you can share?”
Vincent Yes!
Asher Yes, I do. I’m working at the moment in development on [a screen adaptation of Sally Hepworth’s novel] The Soulmate, and I have been doing that for about a year with Made Up Stories and one of my favourite writers of all time, Fiona Seres, and Imogen Banks.
Vincent I think that’s one of those things you do well in producing is bringing together people who haven’t worked together but you know that they could. It’s kind of like matchmaking.
Asher “And Asher, what does it mean to you to be a L’Oréal Paris brand partner?”
Vincent It means I steal Asher’s products.
Asher Yes, that’s true – the whole family does. I love it, it was such an easy choice to collaborate with L’Oréal Paris. I was so thrilled when they asked me; I like what they stand for, but their messaging about self-worth – which since the early 1900s is the same – I find extraordinary and full of integrity. It really aligns with who I am now as a woman. I’m understanding for the first time in my life what self-worth actually means to me, and I truly own it now as opposed to it being a performative thing, which I think it has been for many years in my life.
Celine blazer, $4950, shirt, POA, pants, $2100, and shoes, $2500.
Vincent The products are amazing, but it’s so much more that aligns with you.
Asher OK, so this is fun – these are rapid-fire questions.
Vincent Oh dear.
Asher You might see us argue here. This will be good. “Who asked who out on a date?” Vincent.
Vincent That is true.
Asher “Who said ‘I love you’ first?”
Vincent Asher.
Asher Well, that’s actually not true – we said it simultaneously, which we thought was extraordinary. Do you not remember? You don’t remember.
Vincent I don’t remember [both laugh].
Asher We actually did say it simultaneously. I’ll never forget it. It was at my farm, watching the sunset with the horses and Luca. “Who’s funnier?”
Vincent Me!
Asher Vinnie’s funnier. I’ll give him that. “Who controls the music in the car?” Luca.
Vincent Yes, but if it’s you and me in the car ...
Asher We like the same.
Vincent No, there’s some cheesy stuff you like.
Asher Well, at least I’ve grown up and I don’t listen to – what do you listen to? What do you even call it?
Vincent Been listening to British hip hop recently.
Asher I mean, what?
Vincent I like it.
Asher “Who’s more stubborn?”
Vincent Asher.
Asher Vincent.
Vincent Asher.
Asher Vincent. Anyway, let’s let that one go. “Who goes to bed first?”
Vincent Asher.
Asher Me. “Who’s last to get up?” Vincent. “What are you watching together at the moment?”
Vincent The last thing we watched was the Peaky Blinders movie last week. Asher doesn’t like watching shows with me. I try to predict the ending and it really upsets her.
Asher That’s how Vincent puts it. Actually, Vincent commentates through every scene of every show. And I can’t tolerate it. Suffice to say we don’t watch a lot of television drama together. We can watch kind of easy-going things ...
Left Stella McCartney x H&M blazer, $399; Scanlan Theodore shirt, $220; Ralph Lauren Collection tie, $499.
Below Emporio Armani jacket, $1600, and pants, $1200; Zara shoes, $109; stylist’s belt.
Beauty note On Asher’s lips: L’Oréal Paris Color Riche Lip Liner in Worth It Medium, $17.99; Color Riche Classic Satin Lipstick in Worth It Medium, $25.99.
Hair note L’Oréal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Oil Treatment Jojoba, $21.99; Elnett Extra Strong Hold Hairspray, $14.99.
Vincent We’ve been watching Seinfeld.
Asher For some reason, we don’t argue through Seinfeld. We’ve tried to rope the kids in and they’re like, “Forget about it.” OK: “What does the other person do that makes you feel loved or seen?” He tells me he loves me every day, and he means it.
Vincent When you might just send me an update during the day, not a question – you might send me a photo or a message and that makes my day.
Asher “What’s a quality in the other person that you wish you had?”
Vincent There’s quite a few actually [laughs]. Asher is just so clever. You’re one of the smartest people I know.
Asher Vinnie has this incredible capacity for play, and I can get a little bogged down in the kind of details of life and Vincent has a really energising and infectious way of finding the joy and play in any given moment. “What’s your best piece of relationship advice for our readers?”
Vincent Don’t get ... just joking. Patience, because Asher needs a lot of patience [both laugh].
Asher Mine would be to talk to each other, no matter how difficult that can be sometimes, to share your authentic feelings with your partner.
Vincent I would also say, hang in there, because there will be times without a doubt that it’s really difficult, but they don’t always last.
Asher Sit in the discomfort.
Vincent Just know that, you know, it’s a moment.
Asher If you’re really passionate about each other, and you really deeply care for each other.
Vincent Otherwise, move on.