12 posts tagged "Christopher Kane"
Makeup Artist Lucia Pica Takes Us Inside The Cover Look Of Style.com/Print Issue 04
After a full month of shows and three intense weeks of production, the fourth issue of Style.com/Print is here! And as our biannual glossy starts populating newsstands across the globe, it will become increasingly difficult to escape the lasting image of Ellinore Erichsen’s deep, kohl-rimmed cover glance, which is thanks to the magnificent handiwork of one Lucia Pica. “Ellinore was supposed to be more of a rebel—a cool goth-y girl in the school,” the makeup artist explains of the direction for the story, which took us inside Christopher Kane’s high school in Scotland to get a real glimpse of the environment from where his genius came. Here, photographer Alasdair McLellan’s go-to face painter explains the ins and outs of the on-set creative process, how to get Marta Dyks’ killer spider lashes, and what makes a rule breaker where makeup is concerned.
What was it like working with Alasdair and Christopher on this story, and how did you come up with the idea for the makeup look?
“Normally, you talk about the story and interpret it. For this, it was all about Christopher’s background. We went to his school and a music hall, so we wanted to represent two girls. One of them, Ellinore, was more of a rebel—a cool goth-y girl in the school—and that needed to translate throughout the story, so I kept the smoky eye, and then when we moved locations and switched outfits, I gave her more of a goth look, with a dark matte mouth. Marta was more of the wide-eyed, natural-beauty kind of girl in the group. Working with Alasdair for so long, I know the things he’s attracted to, and I really relate to his aesthetic. We always have to be open to changes, though; it works or it doesn’t. Funny enough, we did this makeup, and we weren’t sure if we had done too much, so we took it off and tried a few different things, but then we went back to it!”
I can see why. Ellinore’s smoky eye is beautiful. How did you get just the right amount of smolder without going overboard?
“I really wanted it not to feel too glamorous. But when I say, ‘organic,’ or ‘homemade,’ I don’t mean not well done—just more lived-in and less technical. So I used a black Givenchy Magic Kajal Eye Pencil, and I blended it around the eye and mixed it with MAC Eyeshadow in Smolder. Then I added a little Vaseline to make it balmy. Another good feature to give it that gothic tint was the thin brow. I used MAC’s Eyebrows in Velvetone. Then we put loads of mascara, like when rebellious teenage girls put a mountain of mascara on and it looks amazing and you’re like, ‘How did they do that?’ “
Talking Fall’s Favorite Haircut—And A Little Art History—With Edie Campbell
Edie Campbell has had a few memorable runway turns—many of them opening ones—at some of the season’s biggest shows thus far. But if you had to do a double take when you saw her at Marc Jacobs, or at Burberry and Christopher Kane, you were likely not alone. The same Edie Campbell with the heavy, Anita Pallenberg fringe and the long flaxen layers who starred in Spring campaigns for Burberry and Saint Laurent?, you may have been asking yourself of the girl with the black mullet-y shag. They’re one and the same, it turns out, thanks to the transformative cut and color Guido Palau gave her before the shows started, which has proved pivotal to the season since. Palau shouted out Edie as one of his reference points for the wigs every girl wore at Jacobs’ acclaimed presentation in New York, while Campbell herself continues to score big bookings, at least partially, because of the crop. “It’s a bit different, but it feels more me than the long hair,” the Brit It girl said of the style while backstage at Jil Sander yesterday, admitting that she doesn’t really even think about it as that drastic of a change anymore. “The novelty wears off,” Campbell said. Telling us that she plans on sticking with her short-hair persona for a while, there is one thing she’ll have to start considering: grow-out. “I haven’t really thought about roots at all!” Campbell revealed, explaining that she hasn’t gotten a color touch-up since her initial dye job a few months back.
Jil Sander was Campbell’s one stop in Milan, but she’ll be in Paris, she assured us. Where, exactly, she couldn’t say—”I don’t want to count all of my eggs before they hatch, but there ought to be some good ones,” she joked. For now, though, the full-time art-history student is back in London before heading to Seville to do some research—then to Paris. “It cuts out how much time I spend in the makeup chair,” she says of life as a matriculated model.
Individuality—And Guido Palau—Backstage At Christopher Kane
When makeup artist Lucia Pieroni asked Christopher Kane for his Fall hair and makeup directive, he replied rather uncharacteristically. “There isn’t one,” the designer reportedly told the face painter. “This isn’t about a big ‘look.’ Rather, it’s about individuality,” Pieroni elaborated backstage. “We’re enhancing each girl, so that when they walk down that catwalk, they just look like better versions of themselves.”
Perfecting the skin with NARSskin Optimal Brightening Concentrate and its Luminous Moisture Cream, Pieroni did promote some uniformity via the flawless base that she created, using different shades of NARS Sheer Glow Foundation dotted with its Radiant Creamy Concealer. Cheeks were contoured with its forthcoming Single Eyeshadow in Yamal, a chocolatey brown, while cheekbones got a pearlescent glow courtesy of its Multiple in Copacabana. Depending on the model, Pieroni then drew a very fine stroke of NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via dei Martelli close to the upper lash line to create definition.
In an interesting turn of events when it came to models’ manes, Kane brought in the big guns for his first show as part of the PPR family, in the form of Redken creative consultant Guido Palau—who, it should be noted, is typically a scarce sight in London. Prestige aside, Palau kept with the same light-handed approach, having models wash their hair with Redken Clear Moisture Shampoo before they arrived for their early morning call times. Then, dampening strands and rough-drying them with his trusty BaByliss Volare 1 dryer, Palau fashioned deconstructed center parts. “I’m not even using a brush,” he boasted, letting his fingers encourage a natural wave to “bring a touch of ease to the fashion.”
Young Frankenstein Gets Girly, Backstage At Christopher Kane
There were the direct Frankenstein mentions in Christopher Kane’s Spring collection (see the screenprinted T-shirt in look 30), and then there were the slightly more subtle nods toward Mary Shelley’s nineteenth-century creation. “This could almost be Frankenstein’s daughter,” makeup artist Lucia Pieroni explained of the harsh, black-rimmed eyes she set against an otherwise perfect complexion. “But a little more dainty.”
Prepping skin with a generous layer of NARS Optimal Brightening Concentrate, Pieroni spot-treated with its forthcoming Radiant Creamy Concealer. “There’s a subtle iridescence coming through,” she explained, clutching NARS’ Illuminators in Orgasm and Copacabana, which remained in Pieroni’s hand during her entire backstage tenure as she swiped the creamy, luminescent pigments onto models’ T-zones and high on their cheekbones. Following a dusting of NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder that imparted a ghostly, almost spooky edge, the face painter made brows strong and straight with a once-over of its Eyeshadow Duo in Pandora. Then, on top of a sweep of NARS Eyeshadow in Pearl Beach, a shimmering sheer mauve, Pieroni etched its Eyeliner in Black Moon along the waterline, smudging it out onto the edges. “The prettiness is balanced by using black along the [lashes],” she explained, adding a touch of NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto for opacity and drawing its Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Belle de Jour, a warm nude, onto mouths to ensure the focus remained firmly on eyes.
Applying a thick layer of TIGI Session Series Wet Look Gel across the top of the head and pulling hair straight back into a long ponytail, Anthony Turner declared a similar intention to avoid the pretty and embrace the tough. “The Christopher Kane girl’s hair is not gentle or feminine anymore; she’s fighting against the ladylike collection and she’s a bit of a rebel,” he said. Removing flyaways with TIGI Curlesque Defining Serum and flat-ironing the lengths for a sublimely straight finish, we’d say his mission was sufficiently accomplished.
Christopher Kane X TIGI
Christopher Kane is one of our favorite designers, so it goes without saying that any collaboration news involving the London-based phenom is immediately compelling—even more so if it’s based in beauty. That hasn’t happened all that much yet; despite teaming up with Diptyque last season to fragrance his Fall collection with its Feuille de Lavande aroma, the house that Kane continues to build remains notably free of a signature scent—or a limited-edition makeup palette, for that matter. But Kane hasn’t been shy about his strong opinions on hair. “It’s my way or the highway,” he joked backstage at his Fall show when asked how he goes about choosing a runway look for locks. “I don’t want some big beehive or loads of roses sticking out.” It should come as no surprise, then, that the designer’s first beauty collab is made for manes. Kane has designed a limited-edition headband for TIGI, the brand that he trusts every season to give him strands that are “laid-back, cool, and modern.” Boasting a double dose of black mock leather to add “toughness and strictness” to any hairstyle, according to Kane, the accessory will be available at TIGI salons across the country beginning in September, offered as a gift with the purchase of two TIGI Catwalk products. Visit www.tigiprofessional.com to find a location near you.