Catwalk / Givenchy S/S16 NYFW

Givenchy's S/S16 Collection was shown at New York Fashion week to celebrate the opening of a new store and to pay homage the 14 year anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11. The ready to wear collection itself is very monochromatic, with strong bridal influences coming through in the white lace gowns and embellishments. Texture was clearly key with a huge variety of fabrics being used and additions such as feathers helped to create the ethereal feeling of the show. This softness was balanced with a more industrial setting, the set of the show was made entirely from recycled materials which created a very contrasting enviroment for the designs to be seen. 

 For one of the make up looks seen on the catwalk, Pat Mcgrath created these amazing lace masks to go over the top of the model's already made up faces, which I think give a very fierce yet also ethereal feel to the look. All of the lace masks were different as you can see from the first picture above, but my favourite has to be the mask pictured bottom right. I love the way the pearl design visible underneath is almost tribal in pattern, but the way the lace sheaths it adds a softness to the face. There were definite hints of metallics, in particular gold in the embellishments and jewellery and some of the white dresses even had champagne coloured detailing.

 

This heavily embellished look is the second created by Pat Mcgrath for the show. Metallics and Embellishments are very on trend for spring and summer and these studded masks pick up on the gold accents in the collection perfectly. Pat says that 'Riccardo wanted a softness, but also a strangeness' which I think it achieved in this collection through a new, weird take on a bridal, ethereal look. 

The models without masks seen on the catwalk were kept very simple with just a little concealer, brown mascara and a smudge of greyish brown on the lids. The models brows were bleached to give a slightly supernatural effect and the end result is somehow delicate yet not too pretty. Only two models wore a dark, vampy vinyl lip colour - one of the only pops of colour in the collection. This is something I absolutely love from this show, the berry lip works perfectly with the mostly monochrome theme of the collection and I love the sunken definition of the taupe shadow in the sockets. 

Makeup artist Pat McGrath on the story behind Givenchy’s extraordinary face masks(2015) Available at: http://www.vogue.com/13334646/givenchy-spring-2016-face-masks-beauty-pat-mcgrath-backstage-models/ (Accessed: 18 February 2016).

Young, K. and Director, B. (2015) Fierce face lace at Givenchy SS16. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/make-up/beauty-Givenchy-SS16/ (Accessed: 18 February 2016).

Edit reference

Hybrid beauty: Of jewelled faces and masks(2016) Available at: http://www.webelieveinbeauty.com/belleza-wwbb/cat-belleza/981-hybrid-beauty-of-jewelled-faces-and-masks.html (Accessed: 18 February 2016).