15 posts tagged "Versace"
Cuff Love
Call it an offshoot of the overarching punk trend that swept the Fall shows, but a lot of designers showcased a single earring on the runway rather than a set. From the tiny gold cuffs at Chloé and the sprawling sapphire-dotted branches at Thakoon to the giant nails at Versace and the Delfina Delettrez-designed magic-eye drops at Kenzo, it was often one and done when it came to ear accessories. In an interesting turn of events, hair looks were frequently choreographed around this styling decision, leaving front sections slicked back or tucked behind these “bejeweled ears,” as Peter Philips referred to them backstage at Dries Van Noten. Now, it appears as though the movement is continuing down under. As Camilla and Marc kicked off Sydney fashion week today, Marc Jacobs muse Ruby Jean Wilson sported a rhinestone-studded spiked cuff on the catwalk, leading a pack of longer-haired models with their shoulder-grazing strands pulled away from their left ears—a festive way to keep unruly locks out of your face, if anything. Thoughts on the utilitarian style?
“A Nod To Punk,” Backstage At Versace
“There’s a nod to punk in the collection,” Pat McGrath said backstage at Versace, referring to the studs, the chains, the PVC leather, and the nail closures that offered an update on the classic safety pins that once adorned similar frocks from the house that Gianni built. But in a funny twist of irony, that nod did not incite the makeup artist to seize upon the opportunity to offer up a smokier version of the typically black-rimmed lids she creates here season after season. “It’s just a little bit of an edge,” she explained.
Keeping skin “gorgeous and glowing,” McGrath lined the inner rims of eyes with an onyx kohl pencil, piling mascara onto the upper lashes while giving lower lashes just one or two slicks of the wand. Using a creamy blush on cheeks, she turned to a similarly flushed shade to slightly stain lips and eyes. “It works with that black,” McGrath explained of the increasingly popular ruddy shadow shade. “It looks healthy.”
Healthy complexions were essential here, considering Guido Palau’s “boyish but still very glamorous” coifs were entirely pulled back, putting the focus squarely on the face. Drying hair with Redken Satinwear 02 Ultimate Blow-Dry Lotion for a “super-silky,” straight texture, Palau side-parted strands to the left and then coated his brush with its Forceful 23 Super Strength Finishing Spray before adding a bit of height to the hairline with a “comb up,” as he referred to the defined, quifflike ridge in the front. “It’s a little bit rock ‘n’ roll—and still sexy, of course,” Palau pointed out of the admittedly younger look. “It is Versace.”
Less Crazy, More “Sexy Cool” Backstage At Versace
The words came backstage at Versace, as they so often do. “She’s a sexy, cool girl,” Pat McGrath said as she worked on a “dramatic,” shaded eye. “It’s just very much Donatella; she loves the smoky eye.” It’s a truism that can’t be denied—and one that manifests itself into similar incarnations of black-tinged beauty here each season, although for Spring McGrath served up the sultry with a noticeably lighter hand. “There’s a casualness [to the collection],” she explained—and therefore a little less smolder on the lids. Giving skin a “pretty, gorgeous, healthy” satin finish with a “sun-kissed” glow, the makeup artist smudged a layering effort of black and brown pigment through the crease of the eye, keeping it sheer and topping it with a dusting of shimmering bronze pigment. Swiping lashes with a few coats of mascara, McGrath filled in sparse areas with tiny individual hairs.
Guido Palau went so far as to call the look “much more natural” than usual. After Fall’s faux-fringe festival, the Redken creative consultant chose to keep things simple, center-parting strands and drying them with Redken Guts 10 Volume Spray Foam mousse to simulate thickness. “Donatella likes a cool length,” he said of the collarbone-grazing snips he made into the front sections of most models’ hair, spritzing with Redken Powder Refresh 01 Aerosol Hair Powder dry shampoo as he went for additional texture before fashioning a loose bun that he took out right before the show to “create movement.” So, how did catwalkers like Kati Nescher, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Daria Strokous, and Anna Selezneva take to the impromptu shearing? “They were very understanding,” Palau said. What’s a few inches in the name of runway perfection?
Fall’s Fringe Benefits
It all started last month in Hollywood. Jessica Biel was spotted with freshly cut forehead fringe, thus beginning an impressive run for the brow-grazing style that flits in and out of fashion. Reese Witherspoon made a break for bangs shortly after, followed promptly by Rachel McAdams and Liv Tyler. All signs seemed to point to the fact that the look was about to make its latest comeback, a heralded return that has been solidified on the Fall runways. “Fringes are fun,” hairstylist Paul Hanlon said backstage at Marni this morning (more on that in a bit), where he was custom-cutting heavy, Penelope Tree-inspired hair pieces for Consuelo Castiglioni’s collection after experimenting with a looser, whispy incarnation at Iceberg earlier this weekend. “It gives you a little character,” he said of the face-framing accessory—or turns you into one, as Guido Palau proved with the four models he dyed black and gave “stand-out” 1920s-era flapper bobs replete with Rooney Mara-like bangs that barely passed the hairline at Calvin Klein. What does it all mean? If you have the bone structure to carry it, there’s no better time than the present to make the cut. And if you don’t, well, there’s always the less permanent option of trial and error with clip-ons. “They’re great,” Palau says of the fake fringes he keeps in his kit for those moments that require them, like, say, backstage at Versace. Heed his advice, though: “Give them a natural texture,” rather than an über-smooth blow-out, so they blend with the rest of your hair.
Rock Chicks Revisited, Backstage at Versace
After a few seasons of dewy skin with warm, highlighted contours, Donatella Versace and her longtime makeup collaborator, Pat McGrath, revisited a part of the house of Versace’s original DNA to create “a really kind of cool rock ‘n’ roll girl,” according to McGrath—requisite smoky eyes included. “It’s all levels of black,” the face painter emphasized, from the unattached strokes of obsidian CoverGirl LiquiLine Blast topped with its SmokyShadow Blast in Onyx Smoke that rimmed the upper and lower lash lines to its Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadow in Shimmering Onyx with a hint of gold sparkle that McGrath dusted across lids in a soft winged shape through the socket. “We just want the girls to look more cool,” she reiterated, re-bleaching brows and then adding cream, complexion-enhancing colors through individual hairs so they looked “toned,” rather than blocked out. The idea, McGrath continued, was to do a smoky eye of today—something modern and graphic that bore no resemblance to “reality TV black liner.”
Working off a similar “super-cool, super-modern” directive, Guido Palau dipped into his kit and produced a series of fake bangs. “The whole thing is a lot less blown-out than we’re used to seeing here,” he said, coating strands with Redken Wool Shake 08 Gel-Slush Texturizer and its new Powder Refresh 01 Aerosol Hair Powder/Dry Shampoo to add a lived-in, slick bend to the hair. Even the short, Rooney Mara-esque fringe was left texturized rather than perfectly straight, smoothed down by another of Palau’s Fall kit essentials: a series of gray and black No-Crease Bow Clips from Ricky’s NYC. “They don’t mark the hair,” he explained of the stylist tools that have traveled with him from New York to Milan.