Roll up, roll up! Welcome to greatest show on earth – or Christian Dior’s haute big top, where Maria Grazia Chiuri took clowning around to a whole new, chic level.

From side-saddling feminists to slogan-tee wearing Francophiles, the power of women is always at the heart of every Chiuri-led Dior collection. This year’s Haute Dior woman was full of tricks, with Chiuri playing on the circus in spectacular fashion for Haute Couture Fashion Week. The Musée Rodin was transformed into a big top, with all-female, acrobatic troupe, Mimbre, performing jaw-dropping tumbles and turns, as Chiuri’s strong female protagonists took centre stage in sequins, silk organza and tulle.

With the theatre of the circus at its core, the beauty was, as expected, full of drama. Playing on performative makeup, Dior Beauty Makeup Artist Peter Philips reimagined the clown, taking the typical playful, puckish makeup of the clown and making it beautiful. “I chose a dark and graphic messy look, with a pattern that blends a punk aesthetic with a dreamy Pierrot feel. All the emphasis was on the eyes, which are intriguing, and draw you in,” Philips explains. With Pierrot as his muse, and this exaggerated, pantomime feel, Philips added drama to the eyes with copious rings of kohl and stage liner, keeping it imperfect and slightly messy.

Skin was kept “ultra-natural,” just a sheer coat of Dior Backstage Face And Body Foundation and a subtle dab of Diorskin Forever Undercover Concealer where needed. Lips, too, were left “really natural”, prepped with Dior Lip Sugar Scrub in 001 Pink and a slick of Dior Lip Maximizer in 001 Pink, which was “toned down just before models went onto the catwalk.”

Hair was hidden under couture caps by British milliner Stephen Jones, to which fine, pale-coloured veils of netting strewn with coloured crystals were attached.

Led spectacularly by its ringmaster, it was clownish makeup tempered with beauty and fragility. And as always, the show must go on.

how to get the eye look
1. TO OBTAIN THIS LOOK, I CURLED THE LASHES AND FRAMED THE EYES WITH A BLACK LINER.
2. I CIRCLED THE EYES COMPLETELY WITH A THICK DENSE LINE OF BLACK USING THE DIORSHOW ON STAGE LINER MATTE BLACK PEN.
3. THEN, ALIGNED WITH THE PUPIL, I DREW A VERTICAL LINE THAT GOES DOWN TO CREATE LIKE A PIERROT EFFECT.
4. AFTER THAT, I SMUDGED ANY LINES THAT WERE TOO SHARP, AND BLURRED THE EDGES WITH CRAYON EYELINER WATERPROOF NOIR TRINIDAD FOR A MORE PUNK AND LESS PERFECT EFFECT.
5. LASTLY, I APPLIED A LINE OF DIORSHOW KHÔL BLACK TO THE UPPER AND LOWER WATERLINES SO THAT THE EYES WERE COMPLETELY RINGED IN BLACK.