RACHEL FEINSTEIN

 I actually know Tom through this friend of mine, Mark Fletcher, a private art consultant. Tom was interested in my husband John Currin's paintings. Tom is an amazing guy, obviously, and he really is extremely entertaining too. So whenever we see each other, we kind of latch onto each other. So when I got this e-mail from him in June, it was just so exciting because it was so unexpected. You know, I never knew he liked my style. I just jumped out of my seat and I was like, "John! Look at this!" and we were both so excited. I was like, "God, Tom just wrote me and wants to put me in his show." I was like, "Wow!" and that was awesome—really, really awesome. I literally wrote him that second. I think I was naked writing that.
I love his stuff. I have always loved his stuff. I think he's a genius. And the funny thing is, for some reason, I never thought that he thought I personified his style. I always imagined this Gucci woman and just this flat-chested, very angular, beautiful, sexy, kind of Carolyn Murphy- or Amber Valletta-looking woman. And I'm not that type of body and am more Ruben-esque. So I was also really interested to see what he envisioned for me. He didn't tell us who the other women were; he said it would be some time in September and he didn't really have a date yet. I also had just stopped breast-feeding my third child, and I was about 12 to 15 pounds heavier than I've ever been, so I was like, "Oh my gosh, I've got to lose this weight," and it was a great incentive. It was the best thing in the whole world just to think, "Tom Ford wants to make some clodies for me. It's going to be in September, so you better get your ass in gear." In August, these two absolutely handsome, straight, impeccably dressed Italian men showed up in my studio to take my measurements from nipple to nipple and from my breasts to my pubic hair. It was so weird and kind of crazy and something I've never done before. It was really exciting. And I kept saying, "I've got to lose some more weight," hair. They had to dye my hair that red color, and my husband didn't want them to dye it permanently that color. He got all freaked out about me having red hair. So they put in a very temporary red mousse just before the show.