Makeup Artist Sylwia Rakowska gives us an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek as she preps the models for the Michael Kors Fall 2011 runway show.
This morning, Michael Kors had a 6.30 am call time. Everybody arrived early with fresh stories about taxi cab drama (one got a speeding ticket on the way)… so typical for NY.
There are a lot of us today, perhaps 15 makeup artists. Shiseido makeup artist, Dick Page, is very nice and calm. Before we start working on the models, he does a presentation on the first model, describing his makeup concept for the show. He is always very clear, detailed, and has a good sense of humor, making everybody laugh. Today we are doing a heavier makeup look (yeah!) The face will be very clean, with minimum concealer and foundation. We are emphasizing eyebrows with eyeliner – it’s a special trick that Linda Evangelista does – you brush the eyebrow down and draw a line, and then brush them back up and finish the line on the bottom.
On the top eyelid and below, we apply a bronzey taupe Shiseido creamy eyeshadow (in Sable, launching in the fall) using a fluffy brush. We have to work quickly because it dries very fast. Then, we apply Shiseido eyeliner #2 just on the top lash line and black mascara just on the top lashes. We are not curling the lashes! Dick doesn’t like it. Personally, I don’t like lashes standing vertically up, I think it looks funny, so we can do a little curling if the lash profile is completely straight. Lips in natural color Shiseido BE310.
Similar to the look at Marc by Marc Jacobs, the skin has to be dewy. We matte skin only below the jaw line to prepare for blush application and send the girls back to Dick. He checks to see if the makeup looks good and then contours the girls’ faces with Shiseido bronzer.
Nails are very natural again today and there are no nail artists present, so we do the job ourselves. Karlie Kloss has a lot of glitter on her nails, and it takes two people over 5 minutes to scrub glitter from Alana Zimmer‘s toes – we hate glitter!
It’s very busy in the makeup area, lots of big models are around. Michael Kors arrives very happy and excited because it’s his 30th anniversary in the business today. He likes everything, so there’s no makeup changes. It’s 10 AM and we are ready to go! Everything on schedule again!
Congratulations Michael!
Images: Sylwia Rakowska and IMAXtree
