While the French Republican Guard’s horses were galloping around the Republican Guard’s Hermès backstage tent during training this morning, a runway canvas was being prepared inside. Models with thick red lashes and a wet look, glossy lips and hair tied back into a low, fluffy ponytail, in a departure from last season’s wild horse-girl look, wandered around backstage, drinking green detox juices, eating a small bowl of yogurt and honey cereal.
Gregoris Pirpilis, creative director of Hermès Beauty, said that creative director Nadege Vanhee has “an amazing inspiration to create a whole universe of artists.” “I want the girls to look their best,” she said, “but how can you show it that way? Do they look more beautiful?” I thought, “Really? I can only see subtlety and optimism in your collection. I wanted to create such an atmosphere, such a universe on the face.”
There’s a note on a nearby table that says, “The studio is a place for creativity, optimism and focus: sleep late and come back before the sun rises.” The idea of reflected light plays a part in Pilpilis’ interpretation. “The face was supposed to be painted in a more stark way,” he says, but instead, “I didn’t want it to fall into a cliché of bright colors.” “For me, it would have to be a shiny texture that reflects light, which is why we decided to give the lips a very glossy finish,” he says. “I wanted the models to look like they had done it themselves, and it was applied for just one look.” Try a yet-to-be-released tinted lip balm (planned to launch alongside the collection’s fashion pieces, so there’s nothing totally “you need a mirror to apply it”), powder your face with the Plein Air Radiant Matte Powder 01 Newage, and use the Le Courbe-Cils Eyelash Curler to curl lashes to “let the light in.”
Hairstylist Gary Gill interprets this directive as a girl who stays up late to let the feeling of the previous night transform into a new day. He and Vanhee discussed adding “a little subtle risk” to the hairstyle, a hint of imperfection. There’s an “artistic element” to it, he said, and here’s a girl who “probably went out and tied her hair too tight and woke up the next morning and her hair is a little loose, but it’s an artist’s version of bedhead, it’s a balance of hard and soft. “All the separations are very, very strict,” he said. “It’s a little masculine, but there’s also a touch of beauty and softness around the edges and the back to balance it out.”
To add shine to the top of her head, she sprayed her hair with L’Oréal Paris Elnett Satin Extra Strong Hold Hairspray, which she obtained from Japan through a British company called Session Kit, and applied it to her head with a boar-bristle brush. . . Then pull the lengths into a low ponytail, keeping the ends’ texture natural (the fuzzier the better). It’s a bit “anti-glamour,” she said, in keeping with her own signature and the brand’s “slightly premium feel.” “So it has a tough tightness, like a strong girl, but there’s also a bit of femininity,” says Gill. “It’s well thought out but still feels nice and unfussy.”
