From lipstick smears to foundation beards, making out with someone who’s wearing make-up has its risks and by the looks of the models on the Schiaparelli Couture show yesterday, there was some hot and heavy motion with a few smurfs backstage prior to the runway. 

Schiaparelli is at all times a highlight of the Couture calendar, because of Daniel Roseberry and his expansive, madcap collections. Last season, the designer paid tribute to the beasts of Dante’s The Divine Comedy with intricately crafted, hyper-realistic animal heads and pretend fur ensembles. In comparison with that, every thing was a bit of more lowkey this season. No Doja Cat covered in 30,000 red Swarovski crystals, no Kylie Jenner wearing a massive lion’s head, no web storm of unfounded outrage. This time, Roseberry wrote in his show notes that he wanted his collection to be “aggressively, unmistakably human”. 

This human touch was achieved through a set dedicated to the artists which have orbited the Schiaparelli universe, from Elsa’s time until now. Salvador Dalí and Lucian Freud were each represented, as were Jack Whitten, Les Lalanne and Diego Giacometti. However the nod to Yves Klein caught our attention most, because of the Yves Klein Blue body and face-painted looks.

While a lot of the models walked with absolutely flawless, soft-focused complexions and sultry smokey eyes courtesy of make-up legend Pat McGrath, a number of were sent out with the lower half of their faces and upper body covered in blue. The look was created through a custom mixture of pigments, paints and shadows combined to provide an intensely daring monochromatic effect. First, a base layer of paint was applied using the Pat McGrath Labs foundation brush. Next, got here a layer of pure pigment for the velvet look, followed by a setting powder to set and neutralise the color mix.  

The blue-faced models brought a splash of color to an otherwise natural and dewy make-up look. Hairstylist Guido Palau, meanwhile, kept things sleek and complex. Hair that was slicked back and held in place with the stretchy black headbands from the AW23 collection – thus fully cementing their position as a sleuth status symbol.