The rain-slicked streets of Paris proved to be an entirely fitting mise-en-scène for last night’s Saint Laurent show inside the Trocadéro, where glossy latex took center stage amidst a colorful haute bourgeois showing. For most of this season’s girls, slicked hair and bold red lips offered a worthy complement to the collection’s classically ’80s YSL parade of double-breasted jackets, sumptuous feather coats, and lacquered leggings.
“It was a continuation of the stricter silhouettes,” explained hairstylist Duffy of the “strict, super-graphic” one-length ponytails he crafted for the show to create a more masculine shape, some plastered down with high-shine gel, while others were smoothed clean. “The unification and clarity of the [shape] is what made the overall look so strong,” he added. In contrast to the close-cropped updos, there was also a wave of swoopy bobs and feather shags seen on the likes of Kaia Gerber and Mica Argañaraz respectively.
“A pure face and bright red lipstick is at once modern and sophisticated,” explained makeup artist Tom Pecheux of obliging designer Anthony Vaccarello’s directive for a feminine and powerful aesthetic that would enhance the dominatrix-style looks without skewing too severe. After massaging moisturizer into the face and applying concealer as needed, he left skin alone, and all focus was pointed toward a richly saturated lip. “We really wanted to make sure the lipstick was high coverage for that strong, really deep, bold color,” said Pecheux, who looked to YSL Beauty’s Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick in deep red 21 as his universally flattering hero shade, skipping liner and applying it straight from the bullet. For models with darker skin tones, he mixed it with Bordeaux hue 18 for a darker, deeper scarlet that read strikingly. But just as important as zeroing in on the right shade of crimson was creating a soft-focus finish with deftly blurred edges along the corners. Effortless, lived-in glamour—consider a lush yet nonchalant red lip the ultimate French-girl beauty strategy.
Source: Vogue
Photography: Getty Images