If there's one thing to know about fashion designer Shayne Oliver, it's that he's a go-against-the-grain kind of guy. Hood by Air has some of the most anticipated and buzzworthy shows season after season. We're talking gender-bending clothing, dancers voguing on the runway, and stocking face masks. For its spring 2016 show, the brand continued its whoa reputation, taking cues from two of the biggest internet topics right now: '90s nostalgia and the Kardashians.
Models walked down the runway with bold, brown and white stripes across their foreheads, on the sides of their noses, and along their cheekbones. To some, this might look like a kind of muted clown makeup. But for those in the beauty "know," the inspiration is more obvious: It's an unblended contouring job.
According to New York magazine, Oliver sent MAC makeup artist Inge Grognard images of pre-blended contour jobs as references — tying into the collection's overall theme of surgery and self-alteration. “Why do young people — who are already almost perfect — think they need that stuff to become even more beautiful? [This look] adds question marks and really fits the collection," Grognard told New York mag. The '90s theme came in the form of zigzag hair parts à la Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston in their Friends heyday, while the surgical references continued with bandage-covered nails.
New York mag also posed the question on all of our minds: Was Hood by Air taking a jab at the makeup technique beloved by a certain love-to-hate-them reality family? Maybe. Although Grognard noted that the look was actually inspired by theatre. Either way, while we certainly won't be wearing the effed-up contouring look (maybe if it were blended), it's refreshing to see a brand with a sense of humor.
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