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Wet—it’s the one word mane master Sam McKnight used to describe the slicked-back strands at Balmain. “It’s girls who have been in the shower or the swimming pool and come out with wet hair and get dressed,” he said. (Albeit they’re not throwing on a terrycloth robe, but a fire-engine-red jumpsuit with cutouts.) The pro would have to use more than H20 to get the look: A blend of L’Oréal Professionnel Tecni Art Full Volume Mousse and Kiehl’s Silk Groom were mixed in a bowl and painted on in thin sections with a tinting brush (normally used to apply color). After he worked a dollop of strong-hold gel through the sides to keep them tight to the head, McKnight raked his fingers from forehead to crown for volume.
Over in makeup, the mood was equally sunny and sultry. “Do you remember the fake tans in the ’90?” Tom Pecheux asked editors backstage. If an image doesn’t pop into your mind immediately, simply reference the face painter’s work during the decade (much of it shot in tandem with Carine Roitfeld and Mario Testino). “I’m copying myself, but 20 years later!” he said, laughing. The complexions on supes like Karlie Kloss and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley were warmed up with cream and powder bronzers. “I love a contour, and the girls love it, too, so I’m doing it, but I’m really using the color across the bridge of the nose, because that’s where you [naturally] get a suntan,” Pecheux explained. Loose pigment highlighters in silver, gold, copper, and rose were applied strategically to the high points of the face, while warm sunset tones from MAC’s Veluxe Pearlfusion shadow palette were dusted around eyes. The finished effect was reminiscent, he noted, of Sports Illustrated or Herb Ritts photos featuring athletic beauties like Niki Taylor, Christy Turlington, Stephanie Seymour, and Brigitte Nielsen. “They were superhero women,” he said. Not so far from Olivier Rousteing’s fashion army that stormed the runway earlier today.
