Paris’ Grand Palais is appropriately named. The turn-of-the-20th-century venue is massive, and so are the Chanel shows that take place there every season. The fact that the audience here is perched in stadium-style seating presents an interesting challenge for Peter Philips. “We wanted something that is beautiful close by, but that you can read from a distance,” he explained of the process by which he and Karl Lagerfeld brainstormed a makeup look for Fall. Noticing the metallic threads that were woven into many of the designer’s tweeds, and the twinkling lights demarcating cities in the giant globe that sat at the center of his runway, the idea of using glitter “just came up,” according to Philips, who turned to 3-D eye makeup that utilized “jumbo” silver sparkles as a fairly festive solution to the problem.

It worked. Even from the cheap seats, you could see models’ lids flickering as they circled the world according to Chanel with pieces of sequins affixed close to their lash lines in an elongated shape, and in the lashes themselves. “We actually applied extra glue in the lashes so they get more faceted and catch in the light,” Philips revealed. Keeping skin semi-matte with Chanel Perfection Lumière Long-Wear Flawless Fluid Makeup, dusted with its Poudre Universelle Libre to contrast with the shiny texture on the lids, Philips added a warm flush with Chanel’s forthcoming cream blush, one of six new hues that will launch with corresponding Rouge Coco Shine lip colors this fall—including the transparent, deep berry-rose Instinct that Philips slicked onto mouths today. Nails were painted a similar color with the as-yet-unreleased Le Vernis de Chanel in Elixir. As a finishing touch, Philips drew a long line of its Le Crayon Khôl eye liner in Noir underneath the lower lashes to further ensure models didn’t disappear in the vast space. “It’s a combination between a technical solution and an aesthetic solution,” he said of the graphic element.

Sam McKnight’s “done, but undone” center-parted strands were a reaction to two additional graphic elements. “There are these chokers,” he said, referencing the wealth of necklaces that were placed over the back of models’ hair, creating an indentation. Prepped with Frédéric Fekkai Full Volume Mousse for a slight bit of texture and Magic Move for piecey-ness—”the white one, which is the creamiest one,” McKnight said of the popular sculpting cream—lengths were tucked into overcoats, blazers, and dresses, so all that remained was the illusion of a short-hair silhouette, a shape that was made even more distinct via a series of colored hats shaped like bobbed wigs with blunt bangs. Lagerfeld has always had a soft spot for the kind of short cuts that are making the runway rounds this season, often surrounding himself with cropped, house muses like Saskia de Brauw and Stella Tennant—the latter of whom showed up backstage just in time to get an impromptu trim from McKnight. Talk about a job perk.