A day in the life of Fabien Constant
Photos Maggie Shannon
Words Matthieu Morge-Zucconi
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The director talks to us about green tea, moving to New York and his first feature film.
"We've been trying to fit a very important car scene into our schedule for four hours now... I'm waiting for an epiphany!” When he welcomes us into his home, we can see that Fabien Constant is a very busy, slightly tormented man.
He is a director, currently working on his first fiction film. To date, his credits include numerous commercials for L'Oréal, Yves Saint-Laurent and Mercedes, as well as a 2013 documentary on fashion designer Carine Roitfeld, "Mademoiselle C.". He currently resides in New York, in the heart of the West Village, where he welcomed us into his home to tell us about his daily routine. I direct documentaries and commercials, and am now working on my very first feature film.
I've worked in different fields, first as a journalist, then a TV producer, and now a director. For the past five years, I've been living between New York and Paris. I began by shooting a great deal of scenes in New York for my documentary on Carine Roitfeld, "Mademoiselle C.", followed by commercials. A lot of my projects came to life here, such as my first fiction film.
I now live in New York City full time, and feel very much at home. I have friends here, and am lucky enough to have a home in the West Village, where I can go everywhere on foot, the old-fashioned way. I must admit that I'm very privileged.
I've always produced my own work. I'm self-employed, so I live like a freelancer, with no two days the same. Sometimes I'm on set or on location, other times I'm editing or at home on my computer, and then there are days when I'm in the office like everyone else.
It's hard for me to separate work from leisure because my free time is spent advancing my professional life by watching films. That being said, since I was a child, I've been looking for ways to get paid to go to the movies. So, I can’t complain.
My days start at around 6:00. Although I am a New Yorker this year, Paris loves to wake me up with an avalanche of emails asking me to approve something or other for a project.
I know all the flight information and schedules of Air France planes that fly between New York and Paris each day of the week. I know this sounds crazy! I now travel less than before, because my new project is very time-consuming, requiring me to spend more time in New York.
When I travel, I always take my noise-cancelling headphones, my velvet eye mask, my favourite mug crafted by Timothée Humbert, my all-time favourite potter in Bonnieux in the south of France, and a Château Marmont candle. I know it sounds ultra-pretentious, but it smells great and helps me fall asleep and feel at home wherever I am.
I also drink a lot of tea. I don't like the taste of coffee, so I've always been a tea drinker. I only like green tea, flavoured or unflavoured, organic, if possible, hot or cold, but never sweet. I know it's not protocol, but I always leave the tea bag in my cup. This way, it steep for a long time, until it’s very bitter, which I prefer
I have a moustache right now, and I have had one on and off for a long time, but without it now I feel naked.I know that this air of modesty sounds silly. I hate it when it grows back over my top lip, so I use scissors to trim it in front of my mirror once a week. I don't like to waste time on something that I can do myself and only takes two minutes.
I rarely go out. I prefer to be up and running in the morning, ready to go to the cinema, my favourite morning activity!
Each day, my number one rule is to wash my face. I use the cleanser with binchotan by Horace . Rule number 2 is to moisturise. And, rule number 3 is to do whatever I want, while respecting rules 1 and 2. Personally, I like to use argan oil on my face, which gives me baby-soft cheeks, or so I like to think, and sun cream because I can't go out in the sun without it
I just started exercising for the first time in my life. Here in New York, it's more of a social thing, and I thought it would be good for me, although I'm still in my sceptical period.
I wash my hair with a gentle detangling shampoo after working out because it is currently a little too long. I occasionally skip the shampoo to avoid wearing it out. Evidently, much like us, our hair can deteriorate over time.
I mix together several Santa Maria Novella fragrances, with my base being "Pot-Pourri" and "Opoponax". I've been wearing them for years and I like to use them together. Sometimes I add "Melograno", simply because I adore the scent. Wearing fragrance can actually be quite a selfish act. People occasionally tell me that I smell like essential oils. But that's fine with me, because at least I smell real.