‘IT REALLY HAPPENED by accident,” says Linda Rodin of her self-named beauty brand, which she pronounces with a Parisian twang—Ro-dan—like the famous sculptor. On a September afternoon at New York’s members-only Norwood Club, the silver-haired former model and early ’80s Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor is wearing a reliable slick of her signature matte magenta lip shade: one part Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip Pencil in #16C, one part By Terry Rouge Terrybly Lipstick in Pink Party. “It’s not as if I was like, oh, I’m getting too old to be a stylist, I’d better think of something else,” says the 65-year-old, who worked as a freelance stylist after her magazine stint, dressing everyone from Madonna to Gisele Bündchen. “It never was a plan at all.”
In fact, there’s nothing accidental about Rodin’s fashion industry fans, who not only use her products, but also endorse them pro bono—a rarity in an industry known for its high-profile spokesperson deals and celebrity contracts. The 5-year-old company’s success is all the more impressive considering its grassroots origins: In the early days, products were hand-delivered and advertised solely through word of mouth. Her immensely popular Olio Lusso—a golden-hued blend of 11 pure essential oils including neroli, rosehip, sweet almond and calendula—began as a homespun solution to dry skin that Rodin devised in her Chelsea bathroom in 2008. “I was doing 100 bottles at a time, and everything was coming to my apartment. It was so I Love Lucy, somebody should have filmed it!” she says, laughing.
These days, production of the best-selling salve has transferred to a factory in New Jersey to meet higher demand. The location is convenient to Rodin, who still personally approves every batch. “We used to make 3,000 [bottles] at a time and now we make… more,” she says, reluctant to reveal too many details about her privately held company’s growth. But growing it is: Rodin now makes a body oil; a hair oil created in collaboration with coiffing legend Bob Recine ; lip balm; hand crema; fragrance; a candle; and, starting this month, a bar soap that smells of the same heady jasmine that permeates all her products. “It sounds pretty snobby, but my theory has always really been, if I like it, than somebody else is going to like it,” says Rodin. In May, she’ll debut her first cleanser: a mix-with-water powder instead of a more traditional oil-based formula, which simply “didn’t work” for her. “I don’t want to put oil over oil,” she says. “I want my face to feel clean.”
“I think the real appeal of Linda’s Olio Lusso is that it’s a boutique product,” says Recine, who will launch a new hair conditioner with Rodin next year. “[She’s] not making it by the millions, and there are none of the additives that huge companies use to lower the price, so what you’re dealing with is a very pure product.” Rodin gives credit to Recine for lifting her company’s underground public-relations network off the ground during the company’s early days, passing her glass vials on to actors like Gwyneth Paltrow, who mentioned the products on her website, Goop, in 2010. (They are now sold at high-end retailers like Barneys, Colette in Paris and the e-commerce site Net-A-Porter.) Other proselytizers of the Olio Lusso gospel include makeup artist Fulvia Farolfi ; Estée Lauder EL -0.51% creative makeup director Tom Pecheux ; models like Chanel Iman and Karlie Kloss ; and the stylists Kate Young and Vanessa Traina, the latter of whom launched her first curated online venture, The Line, in October, with Rodin on its homepage.
Still, Rodin remains her own best representative. “Her passion was infectious,” says Gucci Westman, the global artistic director for Revlon who was introduced to Olio Lusso on a shoot with Rodin for Victoria’s Secret. “She put so much love into it—and she’s a very chic woman. I immediately gave my sample to Julianne Moore, who loves face oils. She became a big fan.” In addition to turns on fashion blogs like the Coveteur and Advanced Style, the designer Karen Walker asked Rodin to return to modeling for her spring/summer 2013 eyewear campaign.
Rodin’s personal profile is increasing in direct proportion to interest in her brand. “I was walking down the street the other day, and this woman said, ‘I know you. I’ve been using your products for years,’ ” she says. “No one ever looked at me when I was 25! It’s a riot, but you don’t take it that seriously.” Then, for a moment, she allows for some well-deserved satisfaction. “I am proud of myself. How many times did I have ideas that I never did anything with? And this, I did.”
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