We are long past the days of cookie-cutter models walking the runways with identical hair and make-up, and no one exemplifies this quite like Charles Jeffrey.
Last night the British designer showed his SS20 Loverboy collection – a calmer (for his standards), more grown up version of his joyfully theatrical style, although which still retained his signature drama and colour. Taking place in the British Library (“it’s the great equalizer,” the designer said, where anyone can be empowered), the show opened with Jeffrey reading a poem by Dylan Thomas and poetry readers including Wilson Oryema were interspersed among the models, with music from the Clash being stopped when they performed their verses.
In terms of beauty, no two looks were alike. Hair by John Vial could be slicked back or whipped up into a sugar cage hurricane, left long and loose or teased into a supersized bouffant.
Make-up, meanwhile, was headed up by frequent Jeffrey collaborator Lucy Bridge and took inspiration from Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer whose colourful sketching over top of photographs provided the main reference point for the looks. For some models, the face was covered in abstract, painterly strokes of colour. Others had thread, fluff, straw and what looked to be (but probably were not) sea urchin needles plastered across their face. Hands were often sooty, with one model’s flame-coloured nails coming courtesy of Sylvie MacMillan creating an illusion of fire. One model had his red lipstick applied over-top of the pantyhose placed over his face.
“Thank you for always letting me push the makeup looks to the limit,” wrote make-up artist Lucy Bridge on Instagram. “I have never met a designer who loves makeup as much as you.”
