Eileen Ford, grande dame of the modeling industry and cofounder (with husband Jerry) of this agency, turns 90 on Sunday, March 25. In honor of her upcoming anniversary, we invited Ford’s former commander in chief up to the offices to check out her namesake company today, and visit with the handful of her colleagues who have stayed on with the new regime. Mrs. Ford accepted the invitation, gamely showing up in a pearl-gray silk jacket with dark-blue piping, a light-blue tie-neck silk jacquard blouse, and charcoal wool trousers. Her short, chestnut hair was neatly coiffed into soft waves, her nails exquisitely lacquered in China red. She took care to reapply a bright coral lipstick several times during our chat (no mirror required—her aim was instinctual and accurate). Though she moves with care and uses a walker, she was animated and sharp during our conversation, with a quick recall of detail.

The soon-to-be nonagenarian no longer follows the industry in the hawklike way that she must have while ruling it, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still interested. She obviously reveled in running into the models themselves and catching up on agency news. Crossing paths with a statuesque blonde (Anna S., Ford Direct) on her way in, Mrs. Ford introduced herself and asked from whence the girl hailed. At the reply—Russia—Mrs. Ford grinned and shot back a Slavic bon mot, to the delighted surprise of the towering beauty. Later, upon learning that Julia Nobis (Ford) had clocked one of the highest catwalk counts of any other model during the recent Fall 2012 season, she earnestly exclaimed, “How exciting!” It’s clear that the business still thrills her.

Once settled, Mrs. Ford’s face lit up as she reminisced about the good old days over a lunch of roast-beef sandwiches and sugar cookies. There were stories from the annual company Christmas party, where the Fords traditionally played Santa by tossing gifts to employees from a perch by the tree. Though she doesn’t travel as much in deep retirement as during her career, when she and Jerry frequently scouted abroad, Mrs. Ford does attend myriad social engagements, employing a driver to shuttle her to friends’ houses, social lunches, and family engagements. Of top interest are updates on friends’ lives and their children’s lives—where they’re going to college, what jobs they’re landing, who is healthy and, sadly, not. After the catch-up session, I slipped in a few questions:

J.R.: Your family no longer owns the company, but nonetheless, I’ve observed a real desire under the new management to stay true to the Ford brand and heritage. What were some of your core values while building this company?

E.F.: Well first, we cared. We really, really cared, and that’s what made us good at what we did. Second, we were honest. That was so important. One time, there was a girl who wanted to leave us for another agency. She went to Jerry to let him know, and he told her, ‘Well, there’s nothing we can do about it if you want to go, but you might want to wait until after the New Year because you’ll lose a substantial bonus if you leave before then. You might as well cash out.’ That was just the way we operated, and I think people appreciated it. Oh also, I was very bossy. [Laughs]

J.R.: You also treated your models like family and groomed them, with hairstylists, nutritionists, and cultural lessons. What do you think of more extreme versions of cultivated beauty, like plastic surgery?

E.F.: Oh, I believe in plastic surgery. Absolutely. Why not look your best? You’re just more attractive when you feel good about your looks. But one thing I don’t understand: Everyone has such big lips these days.

J.R.: Lip injections.

E.F.: Well, they weren’t all born with the same size.

J.R.: You started a family and business at the very same time, in the mid-1940s when you had your first child, daughter Jamie. It was an era when most women didn’t even work. What were some obstacles that you faced, and how did you overcome them?

E.F.: There were obstacles, but it’s a lot to go into. I’ll tell you that what helped us was that we were very good-looking. When someone wanted to do a feature on a model agency, they chose us because we were an attractive couple. It helped a lot.

J.R.: When you started, did you ever envision where your business and the industry would go?

E.F.: No, we never did. I started the business because I needed to support Jamie! And it became our family, it really did. We just kept moving, and enjoyed ourselves very much.

Click through the slide show below for photos from the life of Mrs. Eileen Ford.