Vivienne Westwood Brought Us Recycled Nail Art To Up Our Sustainability Game
After staging a politically-charged protest as the framework for her AW19 show, it's no surprise that Vivienne Westwood channelled her anti-Brexit statement right through to the models' fingertips.
Presenting a collection that addressed everything from climate change and austerity, to sustainability and Britain's departure from the EU, Westwood sent activist and actress Rose McGowan leading an army of followers marching down the runway.
Backstage, the challenging conversation topics continued via the make-up and nails.
Taking one of Westwood's central concepts - that we're all being lied to by the government - was manicurist Marian Newman. At first glance, Newman's silver nail art appeared to be a fail-safe fashion week move. But, on closer inspection, the triangles and slivers covering models' cuticles were, in fact, cut out of recycled metallic materials.
The nail artist changed up the look depending on the model, with the finished effect ranging from bare nails complete with foil-finish stripes, to negative space arrows and triangles applied directly to cuticles.
'I'm using recycled packaging and taking anything gold or silver to create the look,' explained Newman backstage. 'Ribbons, wrapping paper, old bottle labels... it looks like proper bling from afar but it's secretly upcycled nail jewellery.'
A lie with less serious ramifications, perhaps, but definitely a way to add a dash of sustainability to our nail game and raise awareness of global issues is more than welcome by us.
Continuing the theme of social deception with a more theatrical twist was make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench. A mix of grotesque prosthetic noses and wood-effect airbrushing transformed a handful of male models into real life Pinocchios.
Dare we say the hero of the original anti-lying parable was a little on the nose? Sorry.
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