WHEN PINK GOES ROGUE
Winter may be coming, but our obsession with pink burns brighter than ever.
More than just a pretty colour, the seemingly innocuous pink, once relegated to Barbie dolls and passive femininity, has taken on a whole new meaning in fashion, beauty, pop culture, and female empowerment. It is no longer the colour that stereotyped the softer, feminine girl or suppressed woman of the ’50s, but rebranded into a fierce, powerful shade for feminist movements in the 2000s, taking it full circle to the old days when pink was once considered a more decided and stronger colour for boys. Case in point: Angela Missoni’s “pink is the new black” Autumn/Winter ’17 collection, which ended with models clad in hot-pink pussy hats to assert her passionate support of the political symbols of Women’s Marches across the world advocating women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality.
While it remains as a symbolic colour for Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, pink was a standout beauty trend and political statement on the runways during the Autumn/Winter ’17 Fashion Weeks. From soft, rosepetal-stained lips at Temperley London to fuchsia eyeliner at Oscar de la Renta and fluorescentpink hair at Fenty Puma by Rihanna, the fondness for the hue was almost rebel-inspired this season, a cheeky homage to Steven Tyler’s favourite colour.
THE NEW OBSESSION
In a season filled with messages of female empowerment and political changes, the abundance of pink in beauty, as well as the smudgy, unapologetic make-up looks, could be read as the power women breaking the rules and doing as they please. At La Perla Autumn/Winter ’17, Erin Parsons, Maybelline’s global make-up artist, was inspired by British gardens, and sent out an army of models in merlot-meets-pink eyeshadow. Parsons used a lip liner instead of eyeshadow on the creases, blended the colours outwards, and finished off the sultry look with a touch of shimmer. At Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, lips were deliberately stained and smudged to resemble a
“post-clubbing night out” affair, while at Roland Mouret, the nonchalant “morning after” look was softly applied in shades of pink.
Then, there is also the shade of the moment, aptly dubbed “millenial pink”. Softer than bubblegum pink and bolder than pastel, sometimes referred to as “Tumblr pink” or “Scandi pink”, it comprises multiple hues that range from blush and salmon to rose quartz—think Wes Anderson’s 2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel.
At Altuzarra, make-up maestro Tom Pecheux applied a wash of rosy flush across the eyes and lips, then teased the cheeks with a soft blush for a delicate tonal look.
PINK, ON THE LIPS OF YOUR LOVER
If the smokey eye is too intense, divert the attention to the lips and take cue from Temperley London’s gradient lip. Starting from the inner lips, gently smooth out the colour to create an illusion of depth and dimension.
When creating her limited-edition collection with ModelCo, It Girl Hailey Baldwin also focused on rose-gold highlighters and powerful pink lippies. “It’s sexy to rock pink. I love a pink lip,” she says. “It gives a sly sense of femininity that contrasts so well to my tomboy style. It’s romantic but bold.”
IT JUST GOES WITH THE FASHION
At Daizy Shely, models sported an enigmatic blend of berry and pink shades on their nails, where the darker shade indicated a woman that inspired awe and respect. Her inspiration? Queen Elizabeth I, and Catherine Deneuve’s character in The Hunger, both powerful, strong-willed, and independent women. In Shely’s own words, “My woman hates clichés about gender.” She is all about breaking the wheel to pursue a new world order, with the help of pink.
At Emilio Pucci, Massimo Giorgetti kept prints to a minimum and went colour totality in shades of lime green, tangerine, and of course, Pucci pink. As the colours from the collection were already strong, make-up artist Inge Grognard decided it was best to keep “the faces quite raw”. However, that didn’t translate literally to mean bare-faced models. Neon coloured mascara, specifically pink, was applied on the eyelashes, with every strand curled and brushed to a visually arresting look that seemed simple to recreate.
And so, whether it’s a soft and romantic shade of pink or an energising hot pink, the colour has finally come to be a symbol of power, unity, and change for women today, without dismissing its feminine values. In the words of Steven Tyler, “Yeah pink, it’s like red but not quite/And I think everything is going to be alright.”