Max Mara’s Spy-Chic Spring Beauty Was Inspired by Killing Eve
Today in Milan, Kaia Gerber, Joan Smalls, and Bella and Gigi Hadid commanded the runway in unison, closing out the Max Mara show to empowering effect.
It was a fitting end for a collection inspired by female heroines, with inspiration running the gamut from ’60s-era British comic-strip spy Modesty Blaise to Killing Eve assassin Villanelle, the latter the brainchild of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who has also been tapped to polish the script for the next James Bond film. Paying homage to a pivotal moment for strong female characters in pop culture, creative director Ian Griffiths presented a wardrobe fit for today’s international woman of mystery: army caps, trench coats, racerback column dresses, and three-piece suits in a color palette of rich neutrals and cool pastels.
Taking cues from this season’s guiding undercover forces, makeup artist Tom Pecheux and hairstylist Sam McKnight collaborated on a beauty look equally as impactful. Inspired by a Hans Feurer photograph he found in a ’70s-era issue of Nova magazine, McKnight whipped up a bevy of sleek twin plaits, striking a perfect balance between sophisticated and utilitarian. “It’s a modern classic,” he said while weaving Hadid’s sun-kissed strands into a set of collarbone-grazing braids. In contrast to the simplicity of the hair, the makeup skewed more experimental, with Pecheux washing the lids in a soft powder-blue shadow and stamping the lips in a dark Bordeaux shade. "It [conjures] the power of the masculine and feminine side," he explained of combination. Evoking the kind of frosty exterior one must maintain in the world of espionage, “official” business has never looked chicer.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
