Direct from the Runway: Baby Phat Spring 2010

When I get the opportunity to go backstage at Baby Phat, I take it. The combination of James Kaliardos for M.A.C, hairstylist Odile Gilbert and Creative Nail Design on nails is what we'd call a beauty home run! And, as usual, they knocked it right out of the park. The look was inspired by "Marisa Berenson and trips to Morocco in 1972," Kaliardos told me, so you can imagine that it was unbelievably wild. Get all the details and see many more photos after the jump.

 
James Kaliardos for M.A.C never fails to disappoint me with one fabulous quote after another -- and right off the bat he had quite a zinger for me. "It's really easy and natural this season at Baby Phat," he deadpanned wryly. After I laughed for about 10 minutes, he continued, "It's a summer holiday. It's kind of this Barbra Streisand kinf of eye. We really liked it when it went out and it's sexy and beautiful."


To achieve the look, Kaliardos used a multitude of colors on the eyes. He started with a deep purple base coat "to create a deepness that's even on the eye color," he told me, and then applied midnight blue sparkly eyeshadow in one sweep. He then edged the crease with black kohl eyeliner, swept lavender in the center and finished with glittery blue pencil. "It's exaggerated because it's Baby Phat and it's glamorous," he said. "It's really fun and colorful! It's nice to use all those colors on the face and see how they can still work. On the runway it won't look so showgirl!" To complete the look, he added sparkly loose lavender eyeshadow on the inner corners.


And the fascinating part? He did this all freehand! "You just get used to the lines!" he said. "This season is just being specific with where you put stuff. There's no guessing game and you just do it fast."

 
Odile Gilbert was working with Moroccanoil this season to create "sexy, curly, long hair, Baby Phat, you know!" she told me backstage. She wanted to create a bouncy look (shimmying her shoulders as she explained what she meant), but added a single French braid in the front "like a little crown," she said, "which is cute." She made sure I knew it was on the forehead, just in the front.

To achieve the look, Gilbert used Moroccan Oil Hairspray, "which is fabulous!" she said. (This product is launching in December.) She also used Moroccanoil Intense Curl Cream. "When they walk, I want the girls' hair to be bouncy, bouncy." Every model was given extensions, and hair was curled with the Moroccanoil Hairspray. "Everybody has to look expensive!" she told me. "It's always a dream, people who have amazing, beautiful hair. Beyonce, Mariah Carey ... 'natural,'" she laughed.


And what would a Baby Phat show be without some blinged-out nails? The team at Creative Nail Design really outdid themselves this season with gold foil extensions. I had the chance to chat with both Kristina Estabrooks and Roxanne Valinotti backstage, who gave me the scoop. "Definitely inspired by Morocco and their fabrics and their earthy stones," Estabrooks told me. "Typically when you think about stones you think about the polished, finished stone. But theirs is really the rough stone ... it's so Baby Phat!" Toes were painted with a coat of Creative Nail Design Air Dry and then sheered out with a coat of Creative Nail Design Gold Chrome -- which Estabrooks recommended doing about two minutes apart -- to create a washed-out look. The nails even matched the sparkly gold runway.

Valinotti also gave me some interesting information about the nails. "We used a gold foil [on the fingers] to create a high, mirrored shine," she said. "This to me is the quintessential Baby Phat nail, it has enough shimmer and shine. It's very dramatic!" To create the foiled Minx-like effect, they put down an adhesive, pulled it up and revealed the foil. "It's unfortunately not polish because you can't get that mirror-like effect," she said.