The Vauxhall railway arch that once housed the legendary gay sauna Chariots was the perfect location for Martine Rose to present her new SS23 show. Bubbling with sexual tension, the collection captured the spirit of awkward, lust-fuelled encounters, with clothing that looked like it had been put on in a hurry – think wonky shirt collars, wrinkled crotches and skew-whiff seams. Slinky satin minis and oversized leopard-print shirts enhanced the sensual atmosphere, as did the necklaces strung with keyrings depicting erogenous zones.
The beauty looks were also a bit lived in and messed up, courtesy of hairstylist Gary Gill and make-up artist Marina Belfon-Rose. Striking eyeliner looks were smudged and imperfect, giving the impression of having been hastily thrown on or actively sweated off. Brows were drawn on pencil-thin and hair was mussed and grown out.
For the beauty, the two longtime Martine Rose collaborators took inspiration from a deconstructed punk aesthetic, tailoring each look to the individual model and the character they were portraying. “The beauty look in terms of the hair was very character-driven which is always such a great thing about Martine’s show,” Gill says. The hair, he says, had a late 70s punk feel with a hint of what was to come in the 80s. “Granny punk, the beginnings of the mullet, mixed with natural textures, raw bleach and grown out DIY colour, provided by Bleach London.”
When it came to the make-up, Belfon-Rose wanted it to look almost as if the models had done it themselves. “The make-up inspiration was very much focused on deconstructed punk from the late 70s,” she says, “appearing to feel somewhat self-applied and lived in.” A variation of different eyeliners, bleaching and recreating brow shapes could be found, all tailored to each individual.
The looks were created using Kat Von D make-up, while a natural-looking skin was achieved with CeraVe skincare. “It was important to keep the skin looking as natural as possible, using minimal skin make-up,” says Belfon-Rose. “So skin prep was our main focus for this.”
