This lady needs no introduction. If you don't know her site isntitdivine.com and her Instagram account @harrietcalo, you should first take a quarter and the corner and then type her name into Google. Then you'll see that she was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, La Vie en Rose, and one of the most stylish and tasteful women of the century. Didn't I say you'd be ashamed if you didn't know? Anyway, Harriet then. She is illustrating again, and that led to a real exhibition among Real Artists.

Tell me, tell me. How did it all come about?

Those drawings of my girls were picked up by the organizer of the grand project Behind the Veil. An exhibition of enormous silk canvases over two meters high. This exhibition will travel the world and starts tomorrow at De Beurs van Berlage with seven canvases by seven Dutch artists. Of which I am one. Next year, seven more canvases will be added by seven European artists, then we will go to another continent, and in seven years we will have covered all continents, resulting in forty-nine canvases. And openings in seven world cities, haha!

Which artwork would you prefer as a neighbor for your ‘children’?

Next to my canvas hangs a work by Juul van den Heuvel, whom you might know from the monumental charcoal drawings she makes of her hair, of braids. I am very happy with this neighbor in De Beurs. By the way, there is much more to see in that formidable building on the Damrak, because until Tuesday, there is the Art in Redlight art fair. And in the space adjacent to ours hangs the work of Barbara Broekman. She shows on wall-wide tapestries that world-shocking atrocities can also be aesthetic. Strange, even inappropriate, but true. Her work would not be out of place in a Venetian palazzo during the Biennale. So hauntingly beautiful.

That drawing is an old love that suddenly came back into your life, right?

That's right. Before I fully devoted myself to making magazines, I drew. Exclusively a touch of hysterical nostalgic divas. Drawing those women completely consumed me; I worked on one drawing for nights on end. Wonderful. And now, thanks to my new free existence, that passionate drawing has returned to my life. Again, I find myself drawing deep into the night. Preferably beautiful women, with lots of makeup, beautiful dresses, and jewelry. Maybe they are a bit less hysterical than before. But hey, what isn't can still come.

And now an official exhibition... Do you celebrate that with a drop of red port in the glass?

Tawny, a glass of Tawny port, that is a bit softer in taste than red. And then I drink a liter of sparkling water again. Strange, I can actually do everything, except drink; I just can't manage it. I love a clear head, and for the sake of fun, I don't need to drink, because I do better without it. I look forward to the cheerful commotion of the opening tomorrow.

Do you have that Thank God It’s Friday feeling, or are your days too fun to have such a feeling of redemption?

Friday, it is a day with a cheerful feeling. That run-up to the weekend has something exuberant, but no, I don't want to call it redemption. All days are too dear to me for that. Or as Malcolm X once said: No one can give you freedom; if you're a man, you take it. Well, I am certainly a guy.

What does Saturday look like in the Calo household?

These dark days, the Christmas lights go on immediately upon waking. Then coffee, yogurt, muesli, fruit. Recently, I do a round of yoga, just at home on the Pers. A little bathing, pulling something beautiful from the closet, and off to the canal. Nice walking with my love Milan, these days with the extra obstacle of avoiding tourists with rolling suitcases. Saturday, you said? This could also be Monday. Or Tuesday. Or.

What is eaten, drunk, watched, listened to, and walked?

I love brown beans. You wouldn't have thought, right? As a salad, with spring onions, feta, and pepper. Sardines, a plate full of arugula, alright, a pasta. No, I won't beat around the bush; the kitchen is not my forte. You make me happy with cheerful company. I walk a lot, daily about three kilometers. Just along the canals, or past a few nice shops, preferably in a fresh fashion season. Taking the ferry to Eye or the IJ canteen for a sandwich or a coffee.

Shall we listen a bit then? I once traveled all the opera theaters in the world, interviewed conductors and singers, played loud Carmens, Traviatas, and Normas, but that love has quietly faded. It doesn't matter, because there is so much music that I like, from string quartets to Jessie J, from Otis to Stromae... I like everything.

Does Sunday feel different than Saturday?

Sunday is movie day. In the Movies or one of the other smaller cinemas. Preferably within walking distance. Last week we saw Samba, you know, with Omar Sy, that scandalously charming actor from Intouchables. From the same makers, with the same infectious humor, and just as loving. Of course, that also has to do with Omar.

This Christmas weekend, how will it be filled?

I have nothing to do with it, Christmas.. Two days a week. I think I will make pea soup. New Year's means more to me. A year completed, a spotless beginning. I know, it's just as much two days a week, but those two days do more for my imagination. We usually celebrate it with friends in Paris. No fireworks, no shouting in the streets, but a supper that becomes more boisterous every quarter hour. Ending with a rock ’n roll, as quaint as only the French of a certain age can dance.

In a few days, you will leave for your beloved Paris. Where could we encounter you?

For all thirty years that I attended Paris Fashion Week, I stayed at Hotel Crystal, around the corner from Café de Flore. That neighborhood, Saint Germain, is in my heart. When I walk there, I am happy. It happens to be that many of my favorites can be found there. Sonia Rykiel, Vanessa Bruno. Pretty Ballerina, Stuart Weitzman. Barbara Bui. But also the Rue de Seine with house after house a famous gallery. And with Café La Palette for a delicious greasy Croque Monsieur. And I haven't been to the Fondation Louis Vuitton yet; that newly opened building by Frank Gehry looks so incredibly beautiful, so on January 2 at 10 o'clock, I will report there.

Is there still an alarm clock on Monday morning, or is that not necessary at all?

The alarm clock only goes off if we travel early. Wednesday, therefore, for the 9:17 Thalys. To Paris. And a crisp new year.