BACKSTAGE AT ECKHAUS LATTA

Last month I had the incredible opportunity to cover beauty backstage for Eckhaus Latta's runway show. As soon as I stepped in, I was sucked into the hectic whirlwind, dodging curling wands, makeup brushes, and aerosol sprays. The excitement contagion hung heavily and I couldn't wait to delve into the madness.

I started off with hair, which focused on sleekness, juxtaposed to the classic textures Eckhaus Latta is known to employ. At first glance the hairstyle looks like french braids, but they're actually large corn rows in C-shape formation and natural styling towards the ends. Think sleek on top and textured as you go down. The sleekness was created by wet-look shine spray near the root, while the natural portion remained dry and far from contrived, as to not overwork the textures of the line.

Eckhaus Latta turned to Aveda for makeup, using a muted palette consisting of plums, deeper blues, blacks, and greys. Fresh Plum liner was used on the inner corner of the eyes, drawing inspiration from a bruised eye, and a new color, Fire Maple, swiped across the models' lips. Some of the colors were matched to actual pieces in the line, while others complemented them. One of the guys and one of the girls received allover color, the former having a "natural" (read: application via brush vs. airbrush) mint, and the latter being tinted mauve. 

For nails, each person had two different shades of the same color on each hand: focusing on nudes or natural reds. A technique called flocking was utilized, where powder was applied to the nail's surface, giving a three-dimensional, velvet-like texture. 

Before heading out, I took some preview shots of the collection. Each hanger yielded a new texture, from tattered, shredded wool, to mohair, and in past collections, they've even used surplus army blankets. 

xoxo