What do you do when, two days before a runway show, Chet Lo calls and scraps the make-up look youâve settled on? If youâre Isamaya Ffrench, you pivot. âHe messaged me and said, âWeâre changing it, I want it like X-Men! And he sent a picture of this girl with chrome tears and molten metal coming out of her mouth. I was like, âOK, letâs do it!ââ A testament to her talent, the bold, metallic beauty worn by Loâs army of models was mesmerizing: A little bit mournful and a massive hit.
Getty Images
âTo create it, we used the silver from the Isamaya Beauty Industrial Palette 1.0,â Isamaya tells Vogue. When combined with a little Mehron Mixing Liquid, the powder takes on a fluidity perfect for creating the illusion of trickling tears. âThe skin we kept quite natural, using Skinlacq for a glowy finish, and, just before the models were sent out, we brushed the tears with a clear lip gloss for a three-dimensional effect.â
Lead stylist Anna Cofone brought the same level of luster to the hair, masterminding sculptural looks adorned with silver leaf that echoed the armor motifs in Loâs collection. âWe wanted to convey confidence, strength, and a sense of breaking through. The message is this: the Chet Lo girl is not to be messed with,â says Cofone, who made âpredatoryâ spikes on models with looser tresses using Authentic Beauty Conceptâs Pomade and Working Hairspray, before applying a gentle heat to create a cracked silver patina on top. âWe wanted to ensure that, even on Type 4 textures, [the] hair was still in this world of armor,â she adds, and thereâs no better emblem of strength than a multi-strand braid. Modelsâ hair was cornrowed back in military formation, with multiple braids sewn on top of one another at the temples to form a raised structure and striking silhouette.
Getty Images
If Loâs autumn/winter 2024 show paid tribute to the Chinese Terracotta Army heâs long looked to as âa symbol of strength,â then the accompanying beauty looks were a suitably superhuman feat.
