The Best Beauty Looks from Paris Haute Couture Spring 2020
A wave of creativity, broken boundaries, and elegantly risqué fashion has taken over Paris for the first Haute Couture shows of the decade. As runways are becoming more diverse in both aesthetic and casting, so are the designers, makeup artists, and creatives behind the scenes, keeping fashion on its toes with stunning couture beauty looks for Spring 2020 and beyond. As a result, this new wave of talented creatives is shattering any tendency towards uniformity to redefine the industry for the better.
While we still have a long way to go in this regard, gone are the days when makeup artists served only to enhance natural beauty or recreate a prescribed standard. From Euphoria-inspired makeup to the vivid trends defining 2020, beauty is having a truly creative moment. Because of that, we’ve compiled a list of the best beauty looks from Haute Couture Spring 2020, which made bold statements in color and form to imagine a future of free expression (because fashion is an art, after all). Read on for some major eye candy and get inspired by the best couture beauty looks of the season.
For Maison Margiela's co-ed Artisanal collection, John Galliano imagined an "upcycling of values" with a parade of colors and avant-garde reimaginations of designs past. Pat McGrath and Eugene Souleiman worked together to craft the perfect beauty look to match—models sported a radiant glow, pops of color on their lips, and low-key hairstyles that allowed the vibrant headpieces to shine. In an age that's all about having fun with makeup again, we definitely see this couture beauty look translating into the real world.
One word, four letters: p-i-n-k. Beyond being the shade of Adut Akech's stunning closing gown, pink was at the forefront of Valentino's beauty looks throughout the show. We love the monochrome palette, in which the blush and eyeshadow come together to create a feminine, sensual couture beauty look.
As the world learned just a few days before Jean-Paul Gaultier's 50th-anniversary celebration, it would also be the enfant terrible's final couture show. To complement the massive range of Gaultier muses showcasing over 200 creations, makeup artist Erin Parsons created a variety of looks. From silver “freckles” to elongated, Cleopatra-esque winged liner to fuschia eyeshadow applied all the way to the brow, the looks were so eclectic that each model could have walked a different show. Sharing in fun, color, and boldness, each look mirrored, in its own way, the designer whose unique creative spirit has left an indelible mark on the fashion world.
Pixie haircuts, short bobs, and androgynous beauty took center stage at Givenchy, a show that took inspiration from Virginia Woolf's romance with poet Vita Sackville-West, who inspired Woolf to write her novel Orlando, which explored gender identity long before it was at the center of modern political debates. We love the non-conforming spirit of these couture beauty looks, which let the diverse range of aesthetics within the collection shine.
If I had a doll, she would be wearing Chanel couture head to toe, and this innocent yet playful spirit is exactly what the high-fashion house was going for this season. In a collection paying homage to Coco Chanel's time in convent school, models showed off long locks and sleek updos alongside fresh-faced makeup, with a light dose of liner underneath the eyes creating the perfect, edgy je ne sais quoi to complete the couture beauty look.
Dior looked to the goddesses to imagine what would happen if women ruled the world, and in the beauty sphere, this season was all about "smizing" and drawing attention to the eyes. Makeup artist Peter Philips infused double-lined eyes with hints of gold, creating a modern, covetable take on beauty staples of millennia past.
Couture is all about decadence, and Schiaparelli took that to heart this season with a fashion collection that could double as contemporary art. Creative director Daniel Roseberry imagined a range of stunning structures and eccentric embellishment, and Erin Parsons helped to extend this same luxurious energy to the face. Most models sported a natural glow to pair with the maximalist designs, but in a viral moment, Agi Akur wore jewels all over her skin to match those on her gravity-defying dress. Curated piercings are trending as of late, and perhaps the look was a sign that this aesthetic is reaching a new level.
