Nothing short of a gold metal was the missive that makeup artist Peter Philips shared backstage at this morning outside the Musée Rodin. To him, that meant gilded beauty was as sparkling (and “sweaty”) as the micro-pleated lamé gowns and chain-embroidered bodysuits on the runway. Just as the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris influenced more than the date of the show (typically held the first week of July), they shaped Maria Grazia Chiuri’s inspiration for the collection, which arrived as a tribute to athletes “whom, from antiquity to the present day, have overcome prejudice and obstacles to ensure a level playing field in sports contests,” the show notes read.
Under camera flashbulbs and runway spotlights, models appeared to be ”glorified sweaty, so we call it glowy,” Philips joked of gleaming skin and gold-dusted eyes. Up until just a couple of days ago, the gold-dusted eyes he created with soft sweeps of could have been blue. “She had a few elements and a color reference of blue, and then she had a few gold references,” says Philips of ideating over WhatsApp with Grazia Chiuri.
Then, last week, she went for an homage to the winning medals her modern muses will be competing for in the City of Lights: “She said, oh, I think I go for gold,” said Philips of creating a “sporty and pure” look that skipped the contouring and for “beautiful glowy skin with a golden eye.” Philips created a glossy base with lightweight on models (“it's no.