The mood of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s autumn/winter 2023 collection was apparent as soon as you walked into the backstage area at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank in Brooklyn, which doubled as Rodarte’s show venue. Razor-sharp strokes of black eyeliner drawn into elongated wings and symmetrical lines that extended up the length of the nose and beyond brows suggested something dark but beautifully precise – all method without the madness.
“They’re goth fairies,” make-up artist James Kaliardos said of models, including Sedona Legge and Ella Rattigan, some of whom also received applications of rich blue or black lipstick. Kaliardos, who is fresh off touring with Miley Cyrus, is particularly adept at theatrical looks. But an impressive degree of technique kept these from appearing costumey: the make-up artist freehand sketched each eyeliner shape before advising his team to place pieces of tracing tape along models’ lower lash lines, ensuring each application of NARS Climax Liquid Eyeliner was as meticulous as possible.
With Black Swan undertones, the make-up – which was complemented by extra-long extensions that hairstylist Odile Gilbert straightened and centre-parted to support a selection of pearl-dotted batwing ear cuffs, flower-lined Victorian bonnets, a few crowns, and one top hat – added a certain amount of strength to an impressive 61 looks. Among them: floor-length black gowns fit for Morticia Addams and tinsel-laced confections that swooshed along to Tori Amos’s haunting ballad “Winter,” off her seminal 1992 album, Little Earthquakes. “I feel like secretly, everyone wants to look like this,” Kaliardos said of the beauty concept, which he worked on with the Mulleavy sisters in Los Angeles while watching videos of ’80s goth kids. Like what, exactly? “Badass,” he replied.