Those of you know me know, I just lived my dream & for those of you who don’t know me so well, what can I say, my entire teenage has been all about New York, Milan and Paris Fashion Week! Every season I was just hooked, I would follow every show and had all my favorite runway & street looks pinned in my head! Fashion week was always one of my key goals, ever since college I wanted to be a fashion buyer only so I could sit in that front row and watch and judge every outfit that I rolled my eyes on, you know that famous fashion week left to right head movement! Well, I didn’t become a buyer because whilst I was training to become one I found myself blogging and man I’m glad I did! Not only did my dream come true but it played out in the best way possible! Representing India with M.A.C – one of the biggest & best brands in the beauty world, backstage at MFW took this experience to a whole different level! How?! MAC Cosmetics Head Of Communications – Richa Dandekar, who was hosting me told me “The backstage is the heart of the shows, its a sacred space of fashion week that you’re going to be a part of” & it wasn’t until I got there that I realised that she was right, it is the very crux of the whole thing! The show lasts 7-10 minutes tops but its the energy, the prep, the photoshoots, the hair & makeup backstage, behind the scenes what actually makes the show. It was a whole different world back there, from watching Kaia taking a pizza break to Gigi & Bella come in their extra street looks, to getting into character (yes, im using the word character because every show had a story, an inspiration, a muse from which it all stemmed the outfits, the hair & beauty, hell even the nails!) There was nothing but the best!! Mac Cosmetics is known for its artistry so I wouldn’t even call what was going on backstage stage makeup, it was art! Each and every look distinct, beautiful with a story of its own created by MAC and some of the worlds renowned Makeup mavens! The moschino show had Miss Pop nails, another brilliant woman who masters nail art and I saw the magic of Sam McKnight, Haute coutures favorite Hair stylist at the Max Mara show!
Everything I ever dreamt of was suddenly tangible but yet so surreal! I felt like that young kid who goes to Disneyland for the first time, soo excited, in awe, in the mecca of fashion, thinking is this all really happening right now? I really had to pinch myself a couple of times! Infact, it was more than I’d imagined because sitting front row, watching the shows experiencing the energy was UH-Mazing but being Backstage with M.A.C was something else altogether as I mentioned above. What makes M.A.C different from other beauty brands is their D.N.A which is all about artistry! Watching the journey of every look created for each show from where the inpiration was derived from to the sketches & face charts and then finally on the models before they hit the runway was so beautiful.
Every makeup artist that keyed the show had a story to tell about where they drew inspiration from which ill talk more about soon!
Getting to the runway, I got to watch some of the best shows – I watched Moschino, Emilio Pucci, Missoni, Emporio Armani, MaxMara, Fendi my favorite because I saw both the fashion gods in flesh – Karl Lagerfeld & Anna Wintour at the Fendi show, Marco de Vincenzo, Philosophy, & Vivetta! But by the time the week ended I felt like a total regular, my pace increased, changing about 4-5 Times a day seemed like a norm almost and eating on the go or not eating due to schedules seemed normal too (that’s a big deal for someone like me who plans their next meal right after finishing one) no wonder the models are soo skinny :p
Over the course of the week you guys have dm’d me a bunch of things you wanna know about, so I’m gonna write down some insider scoop right here –
My favorite show:
The moschino show was my first show at MFW and definitely my most favorite! Everything about it was perfect – starting with the inspiration Which was based on the theory that Jackie Kennedy was secretly an alien so the entire shows Makeup was split into 2 styles (more on this in my moschino post) The clothes, the drama, the super models like Gigi and Bella who walked the show to the humongous backstage setup and my first timer excitement and nerves – it was all just perfection!
My favorite makeup looks –
My favorite makeup looks had to be, oh god I could go on and on, each show the Makeup was super special but my favorites were vivetta which I felt I could relate to because of the way the blush on was applied as contour in an angular way (something I love doing on myself) and the lovely gloss used on the eyes that gave the models an almost out of earth angelic look! Then there was moschino’s classy Jackie Kennedy inspired winged liner perfect bob and pale, blush flushed look as well as the dramatic, candy color painted skin look! and then there’s the Marco de Vincenzo’s tough girl eye liner look which was soo intense they used both, the pencil and liquid liner to get the jet black intensity!
What the models ate – this was definitely one of the most asked questions!
So there was always atleast 2 kinds of fresh fruit juice, salad, lots of Parmesan cheese, and sandwiches and/or focassia along with fresh fruit. Now although there were a considerable amount of carbs, the juice and cheese were always the first plates to get empty while there was a lot of left over foccasia and sandwiches (which I always ended up eating 🙈) so basically although the option was there because it had to be there, the models mostly ate the raw salad or cheese. However I did catch Kaia gerber gorge on an entire pizza during the moschino backstage (smelled like a goats cheese/blue cheese pizza, yup respect) during which I got a picture with her hahaha which is another reason that was my favorite show, what a moment!
What’s the models skin care routine –
So while I spent a lot of time around these models backstage, I can’t tell you guys what their skin care routine is like because I wasn’t with them once they got off set however what I did see was that they’d thoroughly take off all their makeup once the show was over, mainly to prep for the next show but even after the last show of the was done so guys the most important, basic step – TAKE OFF All your Makeup at the end of the day!
Micro Trends –
I watched 12 shows, saw soo many gorgeous outfits so obviously there were innumerable trends that I noticed! Its impossible to talk about each one so I’m going to list down some of my favorite trends.
- Polka Dots – Spots were spotted on many runways for the upcoming season – Each label had their own take on it, for example Vivetta had the lady like dots amped with lace on their dresses and shirts.
- Animal Printed Jackets – Animal prints were all over the place as well, especially on jackets for example MaxMara has animal printed trench coats while Missoni did a fuzzy tiger print jacket with tribal-esque buttons
- Feathers & Airy light furs – Feathers aren’t going anywhere guys! if anything the trend has only amplified, from dresses to outerwear feathers were everywhere and I think Blumarine did it best! Furs that were extremely soft and almost the weight of air were all over too, especially in colors that were as soft to look at as touch!
- Python Accessories – Python is one of my favorite exotic skins which made the AW/19 runways such an eye feast for me, from the biker jackets at Gucci to the Boots at Maxmara & Vivetta it was python skin in the most gorgeous tones and forms!!
- Bling Bling – With logo mania come back in fashion, Bling isn’t far behind, its coming with quite the storm this upcoming season. Almost every show had elements it – Gucci was all about it with opulent crystals in an almost armour like form beautifully falling off off velvet dresses to crystals monogrammed on leather jackets, crystal chains on the sneakers too! Emporio Armani used sequins to make the perfect glam cocktail collection while blumarine used sequins and little swarovskis in a dainty fashion on day to night outfits!
Accessory Trends –
The main accessory trend that I saw was definitely based on the biggest high fashion trend right now – logo mania! Whether it be the hair clips at max mara that sported a big M or the earrings and stalkings at fendi that had the FF monogram all over! There were a lot of hints of tribal inspired jewelry as well – chunky, bright colors made with resin gucci and Missoni doing it best! Since it was AW18 I saw a lot of scarves, quilted, cashmere with diamantes (again with brand names/logos) and dainty printed ones too which were wrapped around the neck super effortlessly and wrapped around the head like a hijab very precisely (at maxmara) – something I’m looking forward to do this winter because of just how classy it looked!
There are many more trends I could write about however the post would never end. I’ll cover some more of my favorite topics for the upcoming season on my insta page so look out for that!
I hope you enjoyed this post, one that was rather long but very close to my heart!
Xx – Fashioneiress
