Chanel's Fall Makeup Trends

Backstage Pass: Venetian Class

By Ying Chu

"It's a dark decadence, the melancholy side of Italy," explains Chanel Makeup Creative Director Peter Philips, who looked to the dusty colors of Venice's crumbling facades and the shadowy, reflective shades of its winding canals as inspiration for the brand's fall makeup. Backstage at the Hotel Excelsior Lido for Chanel's cruise show, Philips' bustling team transformed 35 models into iterations of Man Ray's portrait of the eccentric Italian heiress Marchesa Luisa Casati. "When Karl [Lagerfeld] showed me the picture, I knew exactly what the makeup should look like," Philips says. And so came the exaggerated smoky eyes, the satiny-matte pallor, and the muted cheeks and lips. Imperfection is key, says Philips of the haunting look: "I purposely applied the eye gloss really thick so it would run a bit." Minutes before the models dashed out to the seaside boardwalk-cum-runway, Philips brushed on the final touch: accents of the sheer silver gloss—on Cupid's bows and cheekbones—for a luminous finish.

PHOTO GALLERY: Postcards From Chanel's Venice Fashion Show

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