From Flamenco Updos to Roaring-Twenties Brows, the Best Beauty Looks Backstage at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Show

Last night’s 2019 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund show was, above all else, a celebration. The final presentation of the competition is always a jubilant affair, and this year’s took the form of a multilayered dance performance made all the more eye-catching by makeup artist Kabuki and hair creative director Bob Recine in collaboration with lead stylist Noogie Thai, who conceptualized looks to complement the 10 up-and-coming finalists’ clothing as they vied for the $400,000 prize and industry mentorship.

While fêting the future of American fashion, many of the evening’s dance performances harkened to decades past. For Rhode Island School of Design–trained Raffaella Hanley’s line Lou Dallas, it was a nod to the flappers of the Roaring Twenties; Recine creating a slew of pastel finger-waved wigs, while Kabuki traced on pencil-thin brows and repurposed MAC’s Retro Matte Liquid Lip Colors in muted beige shades on the eyes to create a watercolor-like effect before stamping on deep raspberry pouts. “It’s Clara Bow meets a boudoir doll,” explained the makeup pro as he prepped model complexions with Dr. Barbara Sturm s Glow Drops. Fast forwarding to the ’50s for young Los Angeles–based menswear designer Reese Cooper’s greasers, model-dancers received supersized bouffants teased up and blasted with Paul Mitchell’s Extra-Body Firm Finishing Spray. “It’s that rock-and-roll, take-no-prisoners cat eye,” explained Kabuki of the accompanying thick, black flicks on the eyes, name-checking late R&B singer Amy Winehouse and 1990 film Cry-Baby, which was set in 1950s Baltimore. And then, capturing the more-is-more spirit of the ’80s for TRE by Natalie Ratabesi, Recine sculpted “individualized” voluminous sideswept and pompadour styles, while Kabuki used MAC’s Art Library: It’s Designer! palette’s Rainbow Brite hues to paint on a full face of makeup (turquoise eyes! Rosy cheeks! Fuchsia lips!) worthy of a Grace Jones album cover or a Richard Bernstein Interview magazine portrait.

Above the neck, a few of the designers delved further on the dance cultures their performances highlighted. Eventually taking home top prize, Baton Rouge–born, Brooklyn-based designer Christopher John Rogers’s presentation was a ballroom extravaganza, each dancer wearing a theatrical neon bob replete with voluminous pin curls, as well as a graphic fluorescent eye punctuated by winged liner and metallic silver arches—a loose interpretation of Moira Shearer in 1948 British dance drama The Red Shoes, says Kabuki. For the Danielle Frankel wedding looks dreamed up by Danielle Hirsch, the first bridal designer to be included in the competition, Recine created high-slung diaphanous updos. “It’s a bun for the runaway bride,” he grinned while haphazardly pulling out wisps to frame the face. “They’re going to be running in a veil!” Topping things off for Spanish designer Alejandra Alonso Rojas’s flamenco dancers, the hair pro decorated traditional buns with fresh flowers and intricate tortoise-shell combs, and then for New York City–based designer Victor Barragán’s label Barragán, Recine worked with braiders backstage to create mesmerizing cascades of plaits. “We wanted to celebrate the versatility of braids with fantastical designs that show off different techniques, like swirls and sharp corners,” he explained. Then for New York–based brand Private Policy’s hip-hop dancers, a duo of female performers wore buoyant clouds of curls with their gazes encased in aureate pigment to mask-like effect. “We wanted something that was going to catch the light, but would also feel futuristic and strong,” said Kabuki.

Burgeoning designer Hillary Taymour, ever the color enthusiast, showcased the night’s most scene-stealing head-to-toe beauty looks, conceived for her label Collina Strada. “I’m looking at the outfits and almost seeing the bodies like a silhouette,” explained Kabuki, who supercharged the body with Costa Brazil s Kaya Jungle Firming Body Oil before freehand-painting limbs, chests, and faces in saturated, geometric strokes of paints. “It’s almost like an abstract Matisse thing.” After molding lengths into glossy, waved updos that “accentuated the lines of the face,” Recine administered Technicolor brushstrokes of his own to extend the color story. The finishing touch? The mossy green nails, courtesy of Paintbox’s Nail Lacquer shade Like Wild. “We’re big fans of Collina Strada’s efforts towards sustainability, and this earthy tone perfectly reflects this mission,” explained lead nail artist Mabelyn Martin. Beauty being an essential tool for both a synergistic presentation and the kind of head-swiveling theatrics CVFF showgoers have come to expect, every detail counts for these rising designers to tell their full story.