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This year, Karl Lagerfeld took his Chanel Métiers d’Art show to Ancient Egypt. A history buff by all accounts, it was an ode to one of his passions – antiquity – but done the Karl way, the Chanel way.
It was a case of new meets old, as hieroglyphics collided with camellias and bouclé with scarab beetles. And it terms of beauty, it was spectacular.
As always, Chanel Global Creative Make Up and Colour Designer Lucia Pica rose to the occasion, this time referencing the Queen of Ancient Egypt, and our forever beauty muse, Cleopatra.
Arguably the creator of the cat-eye – now an enduring makeup classic – Cleopatra’s eye makeup has long fascinated and inspired us, with countless iterations of the winged line playing out over time. From bold stamps of black to delicate flicks, the feline shape has remained a beauty constant. However, Pica’s take on Cleopatra’s cat-eye was slightly different, playing with negative space as oppose to traditional block colour.
A case of beauty hieroglyphics, Pica hand-painted two clean lines around model eyes with Calligraphie de Chanel, a longwear intense cream eyeliner pot. Even Pharrell, who walked in the show, received Pica’s floating cat-eye. Keeping the rest of the eye bare bar two clean lines in chalky white, cobalt blue and black, it was simple but beautifully striking, an artful, ingenious expression of an eye look which has truly been done to death. As for the rest of the face, it was kept minimal; just a sweeping of blush (keynote to any Chanel look) and “always La Palette Essentielle,” Pica adds.
Winged liner done differently, trust Pica and Chanel to reinvent the cat-eye with newfound flair. Just the thing to add a little drama – and art – to your festive beauty look.
