This New York Fashion Week was bound to be a big moment for Rachel Scott—well, two big moments, as the designer shared a collection at her Diotima and her first-ever for Proenza Schouler. We’ve had a glimpse into her beauty perspective at past seasons of Diotima, which included undone Jamaican glam, but with a second show on her schedule, how would it change?
First came Proenza Schouler on a dreary Wednesday afternoon in the Lower East Side. Scott found inspiration in the women of New York City. Across all metrics, this woman has her shit together—seemingly juggling a career and a big life, with the wardrobe to match. There’s a seriousness about her. “To the unknowing eye, she is put together, precise, deathly punctual,” Scott wrote in the show notes. “Those who recognize her sense that there is more to her.” But, Scott said in an interview with my colleague Nicole Phelps, that doesn’t mean the constraints of perfection. “I want to give her more texture and complexity and little peeks of eroticism, but it’s totally self-authored.”
These put together imperfections carried on into the details of the show’s beauty look. “[We took] elements of a classic makeup look and deconstructed them,” makeup artist Thomas de Kluyver told me backstage. “It’s makeup as an accessory.” De Kluyver dreamt up three off-kilter looks utilizing Byredo’s assortment of colorful cosmetics. The traditional eyeliner was eschewed—a chunky black kajal swiped across the lid on one eye, then on the lower lash line on the other. Some model’s look was lip-centric. The average red power lip (shade Red Coma) was reworked in a similar style: one half-swipe of liquid matte lipstick in shade Red Coma on the top lip, and a half-swipe on the bottom lip to a jigsaw effect. “These slightly distort the face in a way,” de Kluyver continues. The last look centered around dramatic lashes; a simple coat of mascara was swapped for a foil-crusted eyelash coated with Byredo’s Astronomical Mascara in shade Space Black. Otherwise, skin was kept fresh and glowing—thanks in large part to Furtuna Skin’s lineup.
Hair, too, embraced imperfection to embody “the woman who put herself together, and then kind of had to rush out the door,” said pro makeup artist Holli Smith, who imagined a low ponytail that appears simple and effortless, but required time and precision. Curls, waves, and natural texture were enhanced by Oribe products, then set into place with T3 hot tools. The finish was sleek and out of the way, but undone.
A few days later, on an equally dreary day, came the Diotima show in the Financial District. “At Diotima, beauty is inseparable from the political,” Scott said in the show notes. She drew inspiration from the work of Wilfredo Lam, an artist known for his portrayal of Afro-Cuban culture and spirituality. Lam’s work embodies resistance, and Scott called out Lam’s femme cheval motif in particular. The designer considered how this figure, both human and divine, transforms the object of desire into a cultural power.
Scott and hairstylist Joey George said eroticism was a central theme, and the hairstylist referenced the women of Helmet Newton to create what he called “the bedroom twist.” While using a yet-to-be-revealed Oribe product, he created a double French twist on the back of the head; in front, lacquered lengths cascade from a left side-part, looped into a subtle face-framing curl. While the look reads glamorous or vintage, it’s not meant to connect to yesteryear’s femininity. “It’s a strong, high-polish look,” he says. “Strength is sexy.”
Both of Scott’s women—put-together at Proenza Schouler and strong at Diotima—aren’t meant to be parallel characters, but instead converge in their nuance. And so does the modern woman, too.
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