Bringing back the romance backstage at Naeem Khan
By Shyema Azam
To offset the sophisticated designs at Naeem Khan (which consisted of body-conscious black and ivory pieces with intricate beading and embroidery work) NARS Director of Global Artistry, James Boehner, gave the models a very precise cat-eye with just a bit of gloss.
"The inspiration is Italian cinemas in the 60s," he said. "It's very Monica Vitti."
Using the brand's new Eyeliner Stylo in Carpate (which looks like a felt tip pen), he gave the models a thick liner that was flicked up in the corner.
"The liner is almost like a character so it's not totally perfect," he explained. "It doesn't need to be, since Naeem Khan's clothes themselves are always perfect." It's all about the liner and mascara, he said. He finished off the eyes using Larger Than Life Lengthening Mascara.
The face had a healthy glow, using only NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30, a little concealer, and a slightly pink flush with their blush in Sex Appeal. He finished off with NARS More Velvet Matte Lip Pencil and Triple X Lip Gloss.
Meanwhile, hair guru Laurent Philippon said when he saw the hair chart above, he felt like it looked almost TOO neat. Instead, he focused on giving the girls an "easy, slouchey French twist" using Bumble and Bumble products.
"The hair has a very 60s, YSL easiness to it," he said. Using what he said was a classic combo, he first coated the hair with a dime-size of styling wax then layered it with hair powder to give it some texture.
"The hair powder grabs on to the wax to separate the pieces so it's not too clean," Philippon said. "The key is to make it look like it all happened in one go -- it has to look spontaneous." He let a few pieces hang over the face before he sent the models off to the runway.
Finally, manicurist Angi Wingle used a blood-red nail polish, CND Colour's Bloodline, to give a pop against the black, white, cream, and gold color scheme in the collection. I'm obsessed with this look, from the beautiful but not overly-done French twists, to the seductive cat-eye, and chic nails. It's totally doable off the runway too.
What do you think?
PHOTO CREDITS
Photo 1: Runway shots/Alessandro Garofalo / GoRunway.com
All other pictures by Shyema Azam
