Direct from the Runway: DKNY Fall 2009

"More modern ... a take on a young, punky girl." Such was the inspiration from Charlotte Tilbury for M.A.C at DKNY during Fall 2009 Fashion Week. Fresh faces and undone knots, done by Eugene Souleiman, accompanied a stronger structural collection than we've seen in seasons past for DKNY. Read on to get all the details -- and to see quite an exciting change in nails, too.



A heavily lined eye and stained rosy lip were a "little bit 50s," according to Tilbury. But rather than creating the traditional smoky eye, she used no eyeshadow, squared off the liner slightly at the outer corners and accented the lids with lots of black mascara. To accomplish the look, Tilbury used Black Black Chromaline, lining the top lashes in a thick rectangular shape that she extended past the outer corners. She then took Ebony Eye Pencil and lined the waterline before applying Black Prolash Mascara to the top eyelashes.



After applying Face and Body to the skin to give an evened out, sheer look, Tilbury used Blushcreme in Laid Back, a rose-colored blush that coincidentally was the same shade used on the lips. She applied it high on the cheekbones "so it's very fresh and very young." She finished by blotting the T-zone and filling in the eyebrow very naturally to give it a natural arch. "Instead of looking 50s, it's quite punky," she said. "It's a bit as though she's done it herself."



Eugene Souleiman gathered hair into a messy knot and left the ends flowing because "I felt it needed a bit of loosening up and the girls needed to look very pretty," he told me backstage. "I looked at the collection and I knew I didn’t want to do something that matched what the collection would be. I felt it warranted something that was kind of lighter, gentler. There’s quite a bit of makeup, really sharp eyes. I don’t want to do a hairdo that's structured and strong for this."

Souleiman began by spritzing Ocean Spritz onto the roots to create dryness and make the hair lighter before blasting hair with a hairdryer to add volume. He then gathered hair from the ears and tied it into a simple knot at the back -- "kind of like a cherry at the back of the head," he said. He then massaged the hair so it looked a bit messy and ethereal. "I want the hair to be imperfect," he said. "I don't want it to look structured or old-fashioned."

To finish the style, Souleiman used just his hands. "I want it to look like the hair has been touched," he told me. "I don't want it to look like it's forced. It should have a beautiful, kind of raw quality."

As for the nails ... how different from seasons past! DKNY is notorious for doing clean nails -- but this time Creative Nail Design actually made a custom color that was a gorgeous deep berryish purple. "It's a great move for DKNY," Amanda Fontanarrosa told me backstage. "Really exciting." A blend of Rock Royalty (purple with a shot of silver shimmer), Decadence (transparent blood red) and Fedora (ultra dark brown) was used to create this shade.



"Although the collection doesn't have a lot of purple in it, it's an accent color that's bringing out the other colors in the collection," Fontanarrosa told me. "It's quite unique on the runway. We're really chuffed!"

The color was creamy in texture, even though Rock Royalty has some shimmer to it. Fontanarrosa told me it's because the other two colors in the mix take away that shimmer. Decadence added to the shine because of its transparent red hue, even without a top coat -- "which is fantastic for drying," Fontanarrosa said. She applied two coats of polish for a dense look and finished with Speedey Top Coat.