At Prada, Metallic Smoky Eyes and Modern Chelsea Girl Haircuts Rule the Runway

February 25, 2021 | 08:07pm

Prada’s glamorous and forward-looking fall forecast offered a beauty concept with something for everyone.

At Prada, Metallic Smoky Eyes and Modern Chelsea Girl Haircuts Rule the Runway

At its core, Prada's fall collection was a juxtaposition of the past and future, the masculine and feminine. These themes were encapsulated not just in the collection, which saw classics reimagined for a whole new post-pandemic world, but on the beauty front as well.

Above the printed knits, pastel draped furs, and sequined cocoon coats, hairstylist Guido Palau gave a 2021 refresh to the traditional '70s-era Chelsea Girl haircut (which typically consists of a buzzed crown and choppy fringe on the sides of the head around the ears). Instead of punkish fuzz, the pro slicked back a panel of pin-straight hair and shellacked it to the curve of the head to "helmet"-like effect with Got2b Ultra Glued Invincible gel. He then flanked it with freshly-snipped swoopy sideburns and soft cascades of natural texture enhanced with Oribe Free Styler Working hairspray. This boyish sense of femininity was in keeping with the beauty messages of the recent men's and women's shows with co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons continuing to introduce new ideas of androgyny, says Palau. "There's a hint of nostalgia, nodding to a girl in the '70s with a boyish attitude, but there's something very Raf about it. It was a mold of his kind of beauty with that of Prada—and it collided well."

Photo: Courtesy of Guido Palau / @guidopalau

In the same spirit, makeup artist Pat McGrath dreamed up the ultimate "power look," accenting raw, glowing skin with smoky eyes that "juxtaposed molten metals with the power of pastels." A throng of models had one lid saturated in gold pigment, the other silver (courtesy of the Mothership IV Decadence Eye Palette), with a select few receiving a saturated wash of lavender stretching from the crease all the way to the top of the brow bone to color-blocked effect. Offering a beauty concept with something for everyone, Prada's glamorous, forward-looking forecast is bold and beautiful.