Kia McClain
The ongoing trend of “au naturel” has come to its culmination with the Rick Owens Spring 2014 RTW Show at Paris Fashion Week. The goal of the show was to reveal to the world what a “real girl” looked like on the runway. Albeit that women who are less than hefty are “real girls” too; fashion week is notorious for selecting women of a certain size and height to display clothing that they want the other 95% of the population to buy and wear. There is a reason that supermodels are just that, supermodels. Rick Owen’s Spring 2014 RTW Collection was meant to celebrate authentic women, and he wanted the girls makeup to reflect the power of that. Luigi Murenu was in charge of hair and chose four different styles for the women.
Dandelion heads is a fluffy texture created by straightening the hair and “biting” it with a crimping iron, then brushing it out with the aid of Mason Pearson. This created a cotton candy finish that bounced with every stomp. The rest of the styles, slicked back with Kérastase Vinyle Nutri-Sculpt and hairspray, were styled into a chignon. Murenu parted the hair at the center, and pulled it back into a low, sleek ponytail. “What they’re doing is so ‘wow’ that it’s about them and the clothes—it’s not really about this bit,” makeup artist Lucia Pieroni said of the “fresh” makeup. “There’s no particular thing on everybody”. Giving the girls a light touchup where needed, Pieroni applied a light layer of foundation and concealer and filled in arches. She moisturized lips with a clear balm and customized a look for each model. The makeup and hair helped to send a strong message of individuality as the step teams stomped the Paris Fashion Week runway.
