From the SS19 fashion show to our beauty case: the creative director of Chanel maquillage anticipates colors and textures we’ll fell in love with
Text by: Sandra Bardin
Translation by: Fiammetta Cesana
The makeup rooms in the backstage of fashion shows are a fervent laboratory of creativity. There, makeup artists can choose colors, invent looks, dare more or less audacious solutions but always in tune with fashion, communicating on the models’ faces, through brushes and palettes, the style of the collection in the spirit of time.
For the SS19 Chanel fashion show – set in a recreated beach resort under the vaults of the Grand Palais – the style evoked by Karl Lagerfeld is that of the perfect summer, the platonic idea of holiday by the sea: clear skies, golden sand, the colors of the Côte d’Azur, open and light clothes during the day, shimmering for the evening, and even more… How to say: a chic mise suitable anyway and anywhere, in the city as barefoot on the shore. And looking at the close ups, the makeup is in line with the atmosphere. Sunkissed skins, irisés reflections on the eyelids and measured color flashes on the lips; in short, a beauty made of radiant shades and embellishing combinations that immediately entice us to copy them.
“Even the faces of the models are a source of inspiration,” explains Lucia Pica, creative director of the maquillage Chanel. “The girls chosen by Lagerfeld always convey a strong, serene image; this time much of beach girls but still Chanel, refined and joyful. On their face I wanted to make a dewy freshness, naturally sexy, and to enhance the transparency of the skin I used Palette Essentielle and Baume Essentiel Sculpting, adding Baume Essentiel Transparent which gives a glossy finish, both products in the makeup collection SS 2019. Inspirations from fashion? Textures, fabrics, everything helped to create the palette,” says Lucia. “In particular, the overlapping of fabrics refers to a makeup technique I consider my signature, that is the multi-layering of different powders and textures to create delicate and sophisticated effects”.
So is this fashion show makeup already the look of the next season? “It certainly constitutes an avant-goût, but the complete collection is still top secret. However I can anticipate that the models’ lipstick, Rouge Allure Velvet Infrarose, will be part of the SS19 collection. I wanted a fresh poppy color, with a matte finish to give a bit blurry effect: I found that in one of the catwalk bags. And to intensify the opaque-blurred appearance, after a first applying, I used Poudre Universelle Libre on the top of the lips and then again the lipstick: the multi-layering technique gives an extraordinarily velvety effect. Then a touch of blush from Essentielle Palette on the cheeks adds freshness to the face”.
Eye makeup? “On the eyelids the silver tone of the Les 9 Ombres Édition n. 2, Quintessence, to which I added Baume Essentiel Transparent for a glossy finish, all products expected in the new makeup collection. For the eyelashes Mascara the Volume Révolution de Chanel: applied on the upper and lower lashes opens the eyes incredibly”.
A beauty tip to share with us mere mortals? “The most important: for an ultra-luminous transparent skin, use Baume Essentiel Sculpting and blend Le Correcteur De Chanel”.