Armani Prive Haute Couture Summer 2010

Armani Prive Haute Couture Summer 2010
"It's about the moon," explained Giorgio Armani before his show. "I always need a hook to get into a collection, and that was it—thinking about something romantic and dreamy, far away from our everyday life. Something less harsh." More refined than the cats-eye liquid lines seen at the A/W 2009/10 haute couture shows, designers chose to keep lids light and sparkly this season. Keywords: moon, pearl, shine.

Get the Look
Tmoonstruck mood continued through the make-up, with lids gleaming in pearlescent shades of lavender, silver and grey. “They’re iridescent pastels, a bit like aurora borealis,” make-up artist Linda Cantillo said backstage. Face was glowy, eyes were lightly shimmering and lips were all glossed out.
<

Christian Dior Haute Couture Summer 2010

Christian Dior Haute Couture Summer 2010
“The inspiration [for the look] started off being the Countess of Castiglione,” Orlando Pita said backstage at Dior, masterfully wielding models’ manes into regal 19th century styles. Quite apart from the double-layered references, neatly trimmed to both house tradition and the upcoming American moment, this was an example of Dior teamwork meshing at optimum force. From the models' performances— Karlie Kloss walking as if she were a thoroughbred dressage pony herself— to Pat McGrath's porcelain-perfect makeup and matte red lips, to Stephen Jones' giant snoods, veils, and hats, right through to Michael Howells' backdrop of 3,000 overblown pastel roses, it made for an unforgettable coming together of live atmosphere, detail, and voluptuous visual pleasure.

Get the Look
Models strutted the runway with big poofy hair, highly arched brows, heavily winged out black eyeliner and pops of green, purple, blue and pink on the eyelids. There’s a lot of color this season,” Pat McGrath said backstage at Christian Dior, painting models’ pouts in hues ranging from matte ruby red, tangerine coral through to a more subtle nude. Skin was mostly alabaster.

Givenchy Haute Couture Summer 2010

Givenchy Haute Couture Summer 2010
With David Bowie’s rock-n-roll relative Renato Zero as a reference, Givenchy designer Ricardo Tisci went for an androgynous Gothic glam look this season, instructing Pat McGrath to go “very powerful on the eyes and mouths” to compliment the collection. A vivid glam-rock electric blue and green mosaic-embellished jumpsuit and skirt were the kind of jarring, risk-taking pieces that are guaranteed to be photographed editorially—and taken up by the new fame-seeking music-business generation that recognizes high fashion is a sure way to get noticed.

Get the Look
A strong matte lip and porcelain-powdered skin gave the look a sophisticated edge. Pat McGrath featured a heavily smoked black eye, made modern with a touch of blue, grey and black glitter all over eyes, and corners were blue to give eyes a pop. Lips were fully coveraged.