Fashion week – particularly couture weeks – are hot spots for boundary-pushing beauty. Legendary MUA Pat McGrath made some magic at Valentino with petal-framed eye looks that reflect the dresses, while the vintage curls and smoky eyes of Dior recalled the roaring 20s. But it was a beauty look off the runway that stole the show at Schiaparelli, my eyes falling on the crystal-covered red alien sitting front row. After an initial jumpscare, I knew. That's got to be Doja Cat.
Doja Cat's style has always been as iconic as her music, but ever since she shaved her head and brows back in August 2022, her creativity and artistry has taken on a whole new life with her beauty aesthetics. Whether it's front row at Fashion Week, gracing the cover of Dazed or Interview, or just experimenting with makeup at home, the musician has set the beauty rulebook on fire, danced on its ashes, and turned herself into human art. In fact, the singer famously told critics who objected, that her beauty decisions weren't going to be dictated by being 'F*ckable".
Maybe that's what makes her such a breath of fresh air on the front row of fashion shows. She's diving head first into being a part of the art, and the reason it lands? Because each outlandish beauty look honours the brand or collection, while also feeling undeniably Doja. Or at least... undeniably not going to be anyone else.
For those who call it performative, of course it is. Take a leaf out of Doja's beauty book: try 'too' hard. Be too much. Seek attention. Vive la révolution!