Bold Beauty
Call it lip service.
At Dior’s pre-fall 2024 show in Brooklyn on Monday, Parfums Christian Dior’s creative and image director Peter Philips kept the focus on bold brows and lips he described as “bitten,” paired with minimal face makeup and little-to-no eye shadow.
“She was inspired by this femininity and masculinity mixed — very nude makeup, a stronger brow and a lip you could say is ‘bitten,’” Philips said backstage before the show. “The idea for the woman was maybe from a nightclub of a different era. Little sleep, strong leftover makeup, but not too perfect and not too glamorous.”
Guido Palau contrasted that slept- in nostalgia with Old Hollywood waves, among other hyperstructural hairstyles.
Philips prepped skin with Dior Capture Totale Le Sérum before layering on two different shades for lips — Rouge Dior Forever in 670 Roses Blues and
111 Forever Night — and a simple veil of foundation.
It’s the second season in a row Philips opted for a bolder lip, noting that “last show, we did a really dark lip, almost a witchy lip. We had never done lips for seven or eight years. There wasn’t a mood board [ for this show], but this is more of an aubergine, and was more about masculinitymeets-femininity.”
Philips largely eschewed eye shadow, but he did push nude tones toward the lash line to accentuate the eyelashes. “Depending on the girl, it makes your lashes look fuller without using mascara. It’s not even eyeliner, it’s just something in between,” he said.
Although the clothes’ inspiration came in part from the city of New York, Philips said he didn’t have a singular vision for the quintessential New York makeup look. “You can’t frame the New York girl into one look,” he said. “I lived in New York for 11 years. The city is constantly moving, but it’s always a strong girl who’s unafraid to show her power through her hair and outfit.”