We’ve put the promotional juggernaut that surrounded Barbie behind us (although the film is still a contender at the forthcoming Oscars), but the influence of dolls is still very much in evidence this fashion month. The wildly exaggerated lashes on Marc Jacobs’s 40th anniversary runway were followed on the eve of London Fashion Week by a Harris Reed collection that drew on Victoriana, and the paper dolls the designer would make as a child. Sofia Tilbury worked with Reed to accentuate features, creating shimmery eyes, rosebud lips and intentionally over-the-top blusher that gave models the youthful appearance of a child’s most cherished toy.
To create the bold blusher look, Tilbury actually used a lipstick. “The colour needed to be bold and vibrant, so we used the drama of the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick in Night Crimson, diffused delicately to create that dreamy balance,” she explains. The eyes, meanwhile, were “opulent and romantic, with bold splashes of silver and gold created using the Luxury Palettes in Queen of Glow, The Rock Chick and Uptown Girl, to catch the light in the shadowy show space”. The goal with lips was “cherubic beauty”. “The centre of the lips were glossed with a rose shade of lip gloss and a deep plum shade in the centre.” Highlighter across the Cupid’s bow was the finishing touch.
The hair reflected the feminine silhouettes of the collection. Hairstylist Ali Pirzadeh, who worked with Dyson to create the look, wanted a more graphic style. Using Dyson’s Supersonic r hair dryer, Pirzadeh styled models’ hair into a structured side parting with an ‘S’-shaped lift at the hairline, before pulling it back into a shiny, polite pony.
