Former Model and Style Icon: China Machado

1. & 2. "The model years"

3. China Machado wears Alexander McQueen’s silk satin dress, to order, 212.645.1597. Tony Duquette earrings; Nicholas Varney bracelet.

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

4. Pictured with family members

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

5. Machado wears a dress constructed of Richard Avedon photographs of herself.

Beauty Note: Bare shoulders and arms stay smooth with Acqua di Parma Blue Mediterraneo Bergamotto de Calabria Exhilarating Body Cream.

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

6. Yves Saint Laurent’s cotton crepe dress, at select Yves Saint Laurent boutiques, ysl.com. Tony Duquette earrings and necklace.

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

7. Yves Saint Laurent’s cotton crepe dress, at select Yves Saint Laurent boutiques, ysl.com. Tony Duquette earrings and necklace.

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

8. Dolce & Gabbana’s silk jacket and silk chiffon blouse, at select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques, dolcegabbana.it. Philip Treacy London Couture Collection hat; Eloise Corr Danch paper flowers; Verdura earrings; Tony Duquette necklace.

Photographed by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

China Machado
Legendary model and Avedon muse China Machado has still got it.

By Bridget Foley
Photographs by Bruce Weber
Styled by Camilla Nickerson

At age 19, China Machado ran away with the most famous bullfighter in the world. What followed that impulsive decision was a charmed life of mystique and chic: She modeled for the great couture houses of Paris and then made fashion history as the first non-Caucasian face to grace a major American magazine. Those photos were taken by Richard Avedon, and marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Machado later became an editor, a television producer and a costume designer, and she remains as gorgeous as ever. Bruce Weber and Company spent a recent winter afternoon with the icon at her Sag Harbor home, along with her husband, daughter, grandsons and friends.

"I'm coming to get you."

Uttered decades ago over the telephone, those words redirected the future of the girl then known as Noelie Dasouza Machado. “This man changed my life,” says China Machado, the woman who the girl became.

The magnetic voice belonged to Luis Miguel Dominguín, the most famous bullfighter in the world, yet unknown to the hypercurious young woman.

Then 19, Machado, the beautiful daughter of a Portuguese father and a Chinese mother, was staying with her brother in Lima, Peru. Machado’s family had settled in Argentina after fleeing what had been Shanghai’s tony French concession in the aftermath of World War II. It was both a privileged and a put-upon upbringing. Girls did everything in Shanghai, Machado recalls of the endless household chores inflicted by her stepmother (Machado’s mother had died when China was a child), so Machado loosened the tight familial hold by taking a job as a Pan Am stewardess. (Her brother, too, worked for the airline.) No doubt sensing the restlessness of this gorgeous young creature—patrician brow, endless cheekbones—the suave, lady-killing Dominguín captivated her when they met briefly at a country club where she’d gone for lunch. She was leaving, he, entering; he bumped into a tree, perhaps purposely, and they both laughed. A friend explained to Machado who he was.

The fateful follow-up phone call sealed the enchantment, and three days after, she departed with him for Mexico, leaving behind a scandalized family from whom she would long be estranged, and ahead of her a life of unimaginable glamour.

Nearly six decades later, Machado’s cultural imprint is far more than that of international girlfriend; she became a cultural icon to the fashion obsessed, the first non-Caucasian model to appear in a major American publication. She later expanded her CV, first as an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, and then as a television producer, film costumer, sweater designer, retailer and gallery owner. (this just a part of the fascinating article included in the March issue of W magazine.)

I've long been interested in reading and hearing about fascinating people, as biography is my favorite type of book. I love reading about people who live life on their own terms without allowing someone else to set limits. China Machado certainly fits into that category........what a life well lived! A life that some of us dream about. I sat glued to each page as I read about her unique journey through life.

She is still a regal and vibrant beauty who speaks fondly of her life's journey, which I'm sure enraptures many a listener. Hats off to this lady "of a certain age" whose fulfilling life is an inspiration!


*The gentleman featured with her in picture seven is her friend, famed, former choreographer, dancer and sometimes actor. Geoffrey Holder. He played a sinister character with an ominous laugh in the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die." He is married to the equally stunning dancer Carmen De Lavallade.