François Nars Leads Makeup Team at Marc Jacobs

After a ten-year hiatus, François Nars, founder and creative director of NARS Cosmetics, returned to the fashion runway by leading the makeup direction for Marc Jacobs’ Autumn/Winter 2009 show.

It included working with 65 models, and creating 65 different makeup looks. Check one of the many that I liked most pictured at left. I imagine REDKEN‘s Guido (lead stylist for hair for Marc Jacobs) had his work cut out for him with regard to the myriad of hair looks as well.

Nars’ unexpected return to fashion week can be attributed solely to Marc Jacobs. “We’ve known each other since the beginning so it was really fun to work with Marc again. I really love what he does,” said Nars.

TREND: Night clubbing – theatrical makeup – strong eyes, porcelain skin

Inspiration: The Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 collection paid homage to the New York night club scene of the 1970s and ‘80s. Drawing inspiration from these decades and the works of Sprouse, St. Laurent, and Halston, François Nars took into consideration each model’s individual beauty before creating a separate edgy look, reminiscent of the past but still very modern. “We are doing quite an eclectic look,” he said. The inspiration for diversity came from Nars’ book XRAY. “[Marc] wanted to keep that feeling,” said Nars, “the variety of looks, the same way we do the campaigns for NARS.” Overall, it was important that each girl look beautiful, even with strong theatrical looks. Much like the fashion, Nars emphasized having fun with makeup for the coming year, despite the times we live in– “It’s a good antidote.” Francois, I like your attitude!

Strong eyes and bold color were a major theme. Black shadow laid the foundation for creating the dramatic eye, to which the artists added cobalt blues, deep greens, bright purples, reds, fuchsias, and glitter. See the photo of the various NARS colors used, left. “There is a wide variety of color,” said Nars, “it’s whatever looks good on the girl.” For many of the models, porcelain skin was a key component, allowing the black eyes and bright colors to pop.