Alexander McQueen AW/14 - Paris Fashion Week

Alexander Mcqueen showcse his very different ideology of alternative Autumn/Winter fashion at Paris Fashion Week 2014. His version a naturistic world, representing the clothes on mossy moores with myserious sun setting landscapes and grassy paths.

'​Fashion into the Wild'

The conspiracy of mixing romance and nature together for the designers new Autumn/Winter range got people talking more about the setting than they did the clothes. The clothes featured shaggy fur coats, long trench like dresses paired with army style chunky boots. The designer behind this is no other than Sarah Burton cresating almost a sort of animalistic expression. Large embroided white skirt, covered in lace and chiffon were pulled into the waist with a thick leather waistband and long fur coats breaking up the design. Silk ribbons and heavily embellished coats were among the single filed tribal walk. The striking looks that paired the hair and make up with the primitive attire worked well togther. Giving simplicity that alternative look. Thin long plaits were given that long wispy feral look, whilst the make up was kept defined with feathered lashes and gold pigments.

The creative genius behind the make up was constucted by none other than the infamous make up veteran Pat Mcgrath. As many of her striking make up looks she used textures to her advantage and experimented with the theme. She came up with a design that really captured the primal feel to the theme as well as modern beauty. She gave the make up a fantasy feel and demonstrated the use of metallic shades. She chose too very different make up looks for the models. One being the long dramatic feathered black eyelashes captivating the models eyes and the other being a very metallic, high shine more natual reflection of the models. Mcgraths ideas are a reflection of the way she works, utilizing textures to create alternative make up looks.

For the metallic look it seems she has kept the face a very simply ghostly pale matte finish, however, partnered with the metallic features it gave a very effective outcome. For this look the eyebrows had been bleached out to give more focus on the eyes and add to the unhuman look. The contour on the face was done with a pink blush to give a bit of colour to the cheeks. Metallic browns, silvers, coppers and most importantly gold pigments were used for this. The colours were blended into areas such as temples to add dimension and shape. The waterline was lined with white eyeliner to open up the eyes once again. The inner corner was packed with metallic gold to give that pop of colour and draw attention to the centre of the face.

The other look was the dramtic long feathered eyelashes. The face was kept very simple with a dewy finish. However, in this look we see a strong use of the ever popular strobing technique. Highlighter has been used alot so that alike the other look, the light hits the face in the centre. Along the bridge of the nose, Cupids bow, centre of the forehead and the chin. Also, it can bee seen in the inner corner of the eyes much like the first look. Eyelashes have been used to give a very dramtic fierce representation, again tying in with the animalistic feel. This look almost looks cat-like. 130 pieces of feather were used on each of the models, hamdmade by thr creative team. In relation where both make ups look extremly different to one another, there is in fact a very obvious similarity. The make up solely focuses on the eyes.

The deisgner behind the hair is Guido Paulau. He used the idea of cornrow styled braids that circled arounf the entrie head of the model. It is very tight and neat which rewuires time and patience. Every model had a middle parting with the hair feathering down the face in long thing strips. The hair was different and added to the creative energy of the entire show. This type of look had never been done on runway before and therefore differntiated Paulau.

Overall, i believe every aspect of the design fitted together, the hair and make up was inspired by the textures and style of clothing. The collection worked as a whole and the theme behind it had a real naturalistic vibe to it. I chose this show as it was very different to ones ive seen before. From looking more into the hair and make up i can see how it all fits togther. I think the creative process is very interesting and overall creates an inspiring story behind the scenes.

References:

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/19120/1/alexander-mcqueen-aw14

(Accessed 2/12/15)

http://www.fashion156.com/collections/alexander-mcqueen-paris-fashion-week-aw14/

(Accessed 2/12/15)

http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/beauty/547126/make-up-artist-pat-mcgrath-talks-about-the-alexander-mcqueen-aw14-eyelashes.html#index=1

(Accessed 3/12/15)