Why Tom Ford Is Taking Beauty Back To The Eighties This NYFW
Big eyes and even bigger hair for AW/18 gave us a 1980s rehash of California dreaming
Fresh off the designer’s sea-change from London to Los Angeles last spring, it seems that Tom Ford has found a lot to be inspired in by Beverly Hills. At his New York Fashion Week show, beauty looks were ruled by the Rodeo Drive aesthetic that dominated the Eighties’ era of excess, juxtaposed with hair metal tresses.
Make-up guru Pat McGrath’s customised look using Tom Ford beauty was the epitome of Rodeo Drive rich girl. With slashes of velvet black liner and matte eyeshadow, models including Kaia Gerber, Joan Smalls and Binx Walton wore an eye look that was both over the top and controlled, with the deep hues built up on the lid and blended into a smoky tribute to the pigmented halo sported 30 years earlier on Madison Avenue. Creamy nude lips accented the eyes, with slight contouring standing in for blush.
For hair, the time warp continued with a not-so-subtle wink to bandanna-clad hair metal bands. Back-combed and separated by fingers, hair was pulled back by Poison-esque headbands – albeit a touch more tasteful in thick black leather custom-made for the show. Head hair stylist Orlando Pita pulled out sections of tousled hair, for a late night afterparty vibe, with strands at the nape of the neck teased out in homage to the very Eighties rocker mullet.