Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2007-ARAKS

I wondered what time the PR staff from People's Revolution had to get up to be at the front of the Altman Building. There they were, and all smiles too, when I arrived at 9:45 A.M. on Super Bowl Sunday. More amazingly, as always, the PR people were beautifully dressed up, even though it was ever chillier today than yesterday and they were sitting right behind the front doors. Since I already knew where backstage was from Gustavo Arango's show on Saturday, I immediately made my way downstairs to the back stage area, to interview James Boehmer, the lead makeup artist for NARS Cosmetics. I met Rachel, my friendly, helpful contact from NARS, and she introduced me to James. I guess I got there a bit later than usual, because many of the models were already "done," but there were still some being made up. James graciously stopped what he was doing to chat with me, stopping our interview only occasionally to check one of the other makeup artists' work.

As you can see from this close-up, this look for ARAKS for Fall is about a balanced, fresh feeling on the entire face. It's not just eyes, or cheeks, or lips. James said the look was inspired by Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (and that was totally in keeping with the romantic nature of the clothes, too). I loved the slightly flushed, "English rose" cheeks and soft pink lip and you will too, it's just about perfect to add some life to your complexion, especially since you'll be wearing a lot of soft and subdued colors this Fall. The Fall ARAKS look is all about the skin...a flawless but fresh face, NARS "Turkish Red" Cream blush and "Desire" pink powder blush adding a hit of color, but not harsh or brash. "Blend, blend, blend" advises James. On Eyes was part of a new shadow duo that won't be available until the end of August, but worth the wait. "Calahari" is a soft brown" that was blended with another new color "Voyage," a soft fawn with a bit of glitter. On lips, NARS"Tempest" lip gloss --a pink with a bit of mauve, but softened so that it will be universally flattering. It looked beautiful on all the models. This is less about "drama" or making a "statement," and more about bringing your own, natural, glowing, beauty. I'll be posting more photos of makeup and hair, and the clothes, of course, shortly on the Advice Sisters web --- check our FEATURES page http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html for all the latest after Fashion Week, along with "do-the-look" makeup instructions, courtesy of NARS.

After speaking with James, I wandered over to Peter Elofsson and his artistic team from RUSK. Peter did the hair for ARAKS last season, too. When I arrived, he was busy using a straightening/smoothing iron on a model. Peter explained that his look for ARAKS was inspired by the elegance of the clothes--a soft of Catherine Deneuve feel, but with more "street" (meaning; texture) in it. You'll see that in my photos. Nearly all of the models had long hair, so the "texture" was added by "bending" the hair a bit (you can see this clearly in my photos, which I'll be using in my photo essays on the Advice Sisters Web Site. Hair had a side part and some models had a tiny silver barette holding a few pieces back to the side. Then, hair was sprayed with a RUSK hair spray to keep it in place, but still swingy. For Fall, Peter says long hair isn't just going to "hang" anymore, but will have a sharper edge and more details.

FYI: Creative Nail design (they did the nails for ARAKS last season, too) did the model's manicures with "Fedora," a very dark polish, and "Decadence," a translucent red.


and the ARAKS collection clothes? Unlike the Spring season's diaphanous clothes, these were more substantial for Fall, with soft movement from rich wools, silk and cotton fabrics. There was some color in this collection, although it was still subdued and mostly dark shades of blue, berry, green, and silver (plus the usual black, ivory, coal, and white) One that I particularly liked was a wool/cotton double face dress with bell sleeves that was in a color called "Night," just a shade lighter than the color of the sky just before all the light dies after the day is over. Another was a coat in a color I'd call "Raspberry" but I think it was called "Gooseberry" in the show description. It was tailored, but with gathering in the back, so it looked dressy, and elegant. A pine silk twill drop shoulder dress with drop puff sleeve was fresh and young, and very pretty. The fashion critics may disagree with me, but the only "miss" for me were the outfits with knickers or shorts, paired with lace-up boots. "Hot pants" or long knickers are "stage-y" and cute for a party, but not flattering on everyone. A cute look that is easy to wear and modern, were the lace-up ankle boots with traditional "oxford" detailing shown with many of the outfits.

Gustavo Arango-Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2007

I was really excited to attend the Gustavo Arango show at the Altman Building Saturday afternoon, February 3rd, because I was invited backstage and one of my faves, AVEDA, was doing the hair and the makeup on this show. The backstage area at the Altman building is really spacious compared to the tents, and it was easy to spot and interview Rudy Miles, AVEDA Global Face Color Artist, and others from the Aveda Makeup Team.

Gustavo Arango designs glam clothes for glamorous women, especially Latina woman, so the look for this show was inspired by Hollywood glamour of the 1920's, but not quite as controlled or "done" (check out the model in the photo, below):

The makeup for this show was completely modern, dressed up, but, as Rudy Miles put it, "still whimsical." I called it diva with a slightly "dirty-girl" attitude. A polished, finished face and, like the strong eyes at Alice Roi and Alexander Herchcovitch, Rudy Miles made the focal point the eyes. He ringed them completely in a slightly metallic, deep, smoked blue called "Blue Bell." This color will be available from AVEDA for Fall, 2007. The deep, blue eye look really went well with the soft evening gowns and subdued colors for Fall from Gustavo Arango's collection. To finish the look, Rudy applied a lip liner all over the model's lips, first, and then applied a berry gloss that gave the lips what I like to call a "moistly-matte" look. It's matte, but not that old-fashioned dry that we are used to seeing with matte products. The cheeks were burgundy and berry, but applied in a new way: arched around the forehead and to the cheeks, instead of up from the apples. "It's all about color and technique," explained Rudy. And, as many other makeup artists have always advised me to pass on to you, my readers, this is only makeup. You can always remove it if you don't like the way it looks...so don't be afraid to experiment! Rudy Miles is shown below, holding some new "Petal Essence Accents" eye/blush trios for Fall, 2007 . Rudy said he used to be a teen model (and he's still not only photogenic, but very charming!).

I also spoke to Jon Reyman and his AVEDA hair team. Since the inspiration was the 1920's pin curls and finger waves that define that era's Hollywood glam style, the model's hair was set in pin curls and then loosely pinned in the back to produce a modern, Raphaelite-styled bob. This stunning look was romantic and youthful, but not too "set" in place. The models really did look angelic, walking down the runway. I don't have a list of all the products used but I will get it and add the details to my photo-essay feature, soon (check the Advice Sisters FEATURES page http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html in the coming weeks for all the latest Fashion Week and advicesisters content). ). I do know tow of the products used were Air Control, an environmentally-friendly hair spray, and Pure Abundance Hair Potion to add texture and volume to a model's hair if she needed it. Jon also explained that AVEDA was being much more selective in the number of shows they were doing this Fashion Week season. The reason? Aveda puts their proverbial money where there mouths are. They will only work with designers that are in sync with AVEDA's earth-friendly mission and philosophy: http://www.aveda.com/customerservice/ourmission.tmpl

The makeup artists and hair stylists are working on a short time frame on lots of models at the same time. They have to answer the same, endless questions over and over again. Even so, to a person, all of the backstage teams have been gracious and responsive to me as a writer and reporter. The AVEDA staff in particular were so nice to be around! They seemed to be enjoying their jobs, and their colleagues (special thanks to makeup artist TERRY whose husband was also backstage, on the "hair" team). I didn't interview the team from Pritti Organix Nail Salon, but they did the manicures.

Gustavo Arango came by to talk to Jon for a moment. I was too tongue-tied to introduce myself, but the designer, outwardly very calm, said he hadn't slept much the night before the show (I can just imagine!). He needn't have worried since the collection, although body conscious, was beautiful and quite wearable, even for non-models. Mr. Arango, born in Colombia and raised in Puerto Rico, studied in New York at F.I.T., subsequently working as a fashion designer for Pierre Balmain and then launching his own collection. An interesting but sad note is that the designer's apartment was destroyed during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th. He moved back to Puerto Rico. His collection now is inspired by the exotic beauty of Puerto Rico, and the urban chic of New York. The clothes moved with the body, especially the evening gowns in chiffon and silk charmeuse that were accented with beads in many cases. One I particularly liked was a slate silk charmeuse gown with lizard straps. Shoes were high, high, and higher, from Beverly Feldman and La Favorita. I don't know what the fashionistas will say about the collection, but my personal opinion is that Gustavo Arango designs to make every woman look beautiful, no matter what her age or features.

Check out my "how to do the look" with AVEDA products (coming soon on the advice sisters web site linked from our FEATURES page http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html