When she’s not teaching dance or writing fashion stories for beautiful glossy magazines like Dress to Kill, Dominique Cristall stays busy leading corporate social responsibility communications and strategy at Bombardier. Yeah, we know, we know. She kinda makes us feel bad about how much we manage to accomplish with our days too. While we were busy watching Project Runway marathons, Cristall has been doing her part to make the world not just a better place, but a more fit and stylish place to be as well. Someone please inform Leonardo DiCaprio that the dreamgirl he’s been looking for is actually in Montreal, Canada. In the meantime, meet Dominique Cristall…
Tell us a bit about yourself. What should people know?
By day, I don a suit, leading corporate social responsibility communications and strategy at Bombardier, the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains. By night, I teach dance and am obsessed with disco. (Yes, Flashdance is my favourite movie). My passion: finding innovative ways to make the world a better place.
What are the biggest challenges and best rewards about what you do at Bombardier?
Working in sustainability in aerospace and transportation is both incredibly challenging and rewarding. My work involves managing many stakeholders, both internal and external, as well as the constantly shifting expectations of these stakeholders. Ultimately what is so magnificent about the space of corporate social responsibility is that entirely diverse areas of the business and industries at large are connecting to find common ground and solve some incredibly complex problems, be they environmental, social or economic. It’s like yoga for business: it brings businesses into alignment, while connecting them to their stakeholders, to the betterment of the world in which we all operate together.
What are three things you can’t live without?
Planes, trains and disco.
You have a background in fashion. What’s one of your favourite go-to designers?
Now that is a tough question. It is such an exciting time in fashion; rules are bent, broken, exploded and deleted. For my personal style, I don’t think I could pin down a single favourite designer, as my favourite looks are always a good mashup. I’ll wear my grandmother’s vintage Chanel, Gucci or Ralph Lauren to my most important meetings in the boardroom, paired with Proenza Schouler, Balenciaga, Celine or Alexander Wang and a hefty dose of ASOS, Zara and H&M. I love mixing the high, the low, the new and the old. It’s my nod to sustainability.
What products are always your beauty/grooming bag?
NUXE Huile Prodigieuse is a beautiful, multi-purpose oil that de-stresses my tresses, quenches my parched skin and calms my chapped cuticles, all in one. It smells like a sensual bouquet of white flowers, and is fabulous for travel.
NARS lipstick in Shiap is the only lipstick of which I have ever actually run out. (I am a huge Schiaparelli fan – she was an incredible visionary, business woman, and designed with a wicked sense of humour. I covet her shade of Shocking Pink, and NARS has absolutely captured it in this universally flattering shade).
Whatever I do, wherever I go, I cannot live without mascara. Yes, I even wear mascara to yoga (batting eyelashes = mascarasana). I love a long, lush, showgirl lash. Right now I’m sporting BLINC Mascara Amplified, as the tubing technology makes for very easy removal (and I loathe tugging at tired eyes), but for evening, I’ve worn YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils for years for big, fat, fake looking, bat ‘em away lashes.
And most of all: sunscreen. I heed the advice (read: threat) of my immaculate grandmother and wear it religiously. Nobody wants to look like a leather wallet when they’re 50.
What style trends are you obsessed with right now?
Menswear has always resonated with me, and I love that it’s having such a moment right now. I feel at home wearing sharp tailoring, button down shirts, loafers, and feeling pristinely suited. This is partly because of my work, but also because it makes me feel incredibly feminine, and yet powerful. I am eternally grateful to Yves Saint Laurent for putting suits on women (or women in suits), showing the world that us ladies can dress and impress like the best of him.
Let’s get social for a mo’. How can people stay up-to-date with your busy life?
Follow me on Twitter (and please be kind, I am a late adopter and joined, like, 10 minutes ago. A huge thanks to all 22 of my followers who I know personally!) and Instagram. (And Facebook is for stalkers).
