Disco Fever

Inspired by the New York clubbing scene in the 80s (of which he took part of and remembers fondly) Marc Jacobs’ Fall 09 collection called on more than just the usual hair and makeup. He lured legendary makeup maestro Francois Nars from a ten-year runway retirement to create 65 individual looks on each model.

Jacobs got the idea for each model to have their own look from Nars’ book, X-Ray, a photographic collection of various celebrities as themselves (or their own character). Each look created specifically for each of the girls.
‘With my twenty five assistants, we practised two days and worked six hours before the show so that every model had a makeup look that suited her best,’ Monsieur Nars told French Vogue. ‘The goal was for all the girls to keep their makeup on and to go out to a party after the show. They did exactly that.’
Jacobs is lauded for setting new trends with his designs either under his eponymous label or at Louis Vuitton. So is this bold, bright and somewhat theatrical makeup the way of the future? Is it even appropriate to be so excessive in these economic times?

Monsieur Nars also told French Vogue that ‘it is exactly in these hard times that you should have fun with makeup. It’s a great accessory and a fantastic antidote to the crisis. I always pushed our chemists at Nars to saturate my eyeshadows with pigment so that the result on your eye is the same you see in the compact. I like honest colours, almost flashy, that you can work on a black base that will contrast with very fair/porcelain skin tones. This fall, especially, I want to see fair/porcelain skin tones.’

While an even skintone will create the perfect canvas, this runway look is probably best suited to either the really young, or those on stage. But subtle versions, using a black kohl liner and a hint of metallic on the lid and under the eye, could be worn by almost anyone. It all depends on how many layers of colour you apply, a heavy handed approach will look striking for evening, a lighter approach is more suited to the day – you may wish to pass on the neon hues for a more neutral palette – try the metals: bronze, gold or silver.

Tamsin xo