Andreas Kronthaler embraced individuality and uniqueness this season with a special collaboration with Vivienne Westwood showcased at Paris Fashion Week on September 30.
Held at Le Centorial, a place known for it’s intricate architectural layout, the show consisted of a live musical performance, light show and lots of different looks. The runway started on the floor below the audience where models walked up a staircase and then circled the balcony. Male models enclosed a perimeter while standing barefoot wearing only a white duvet that wrapped around their body to which definitely spiced up the French Industrial backdrop.
The makeup varied as there was no set look. Some models had blotches of color spread all over, portraying a watercolor canvas. Some had a full size glitter hand-print, which just looked really cool. One even had duplicate pairs of eyes hand-painted on his forehead, emphasizing an all-seeing concept that fit in with Andreas dreamy fairy tale he created. The hair was frayed into this wild wet frenzy that was purposely strung across the models face, cornrows where mixed in ultimately creating a disturbed dystopia.
The garments were anything but simple. The motifs of sex, marijuana, and the embracement of wild things in natural was complex and uncontrolled. Models had props, one came wore a bowl on top of their head, and accessories were just as important. Many garments, un-gendered with loose-fitting silhouettes, draped dresses and heels being worn by both sexes. The collection signified freedom and the ability to creatively expression oneself how excessively or unordinary one desires and fully embracing it.
We had a chance to speak with renowned Mac Cosmetics makeup artist, Val Garland who shared inspiration behind the bold beauty concepts.
” The theme for the show came about because Andreas & Vivienne were talking about Edwardian Fairytales. In terms of makeup I was thinking about if Francis Bacon was at Kindergarten. He would be painting himself but it would all be sort of wild blotches of color. So it’s about looking at the face as a canvas, we are all artists. It’s these very soft pastel washes on a lot of the models and some of the models have been sort of like splashed with a little bit of color and the hair’s going to look quite wet. It’s Vivienne, it’s arty, and that’s kind of it. Basically showcasing the fact that your face is a canvas.”
