Vogue Scandinavia's editor-in-chief Martina Bonnier speaks with Christian Dior Makeup creative director Peter Philips on his inspiration behind the beauty at the Dior autumn/winter 2022 show, and how to achieve the simple, yet enchanting, look
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For AW22, Dior sent 83 models in 83 looks down the runway. This also meant 83 faces had to be glammed to perfection. No easy feat, even for a seasoned pro like Peter Philips, creative and image director for Dior Makeup. “It’s a very strong collection with a lot of shapes and a lot of strong elements,” says Philips backstage, moments before the show. “It’s kind of nice to keep this [the makeup] a bit more calm, a bit more natural and just glowy.”
Maria Grazia Chiuri's collection, a neon-piped and lace-soaked exploration of technology, featured a collaboration with Italian feminist artist Mariella Bettineschi, whose signature imagery features a doubling of the eyes. Philips, too, found inspiration in Bettineschi. “The inspiration for the look is a strong woman, natural,” he says. “[Bettineschi], takes the artwork and shoots it with a twist of the eye, it’s almost like they keep following you and see through you.”
When it came to practically creating the makeup looks, the eyes were the focus. “We decided to do this little twist on the eye and went for a silver highlight in the inner corner, making it look almost as if light was coming out," says Philips. and that’s it, that’s the look for the show”.
Photo: Olivier Rose for Christian Dior Parfums
Photo: Dior AW22
That enchanting gaze aside, the rest of the makeup application was refreshingly simple. “We did a matte finish skin with the Forever Foundation so the silver highlight would pop more. It was natural with no highlighting, no contouring, no glow and no blush,” says Philips. “It’s all one tone with the lashes and the silver highlight which I did with the Backstage Custom Eye Palette in 001 Universal Neutral.”
Ever the detail-oriented perfectionist, Philips does admit there was a little more to it – some brow shaping here, a touch of lip there. As for how he achieved the eye: “Just silver on the inner corner of the eye, blended out with a cue tip and the eyebrows just groomed and enhanced, curled lashes and on the lips a dash of the newly formulated Dior Addict in 100 Nude Look.”
Olivier Rose for Christian Dior Parfums. Photo: Dior AW22
Vogue Scandinavia's editor-in-chief Martina Bonnier and Peter Philips.
And the best part is, it's easily replicable and endlessly applicable off the runway. “Add a bit of mascara maybe, because it will make you feel less nude and depending on what your skin tone is maybe a bit of blush or highlight, whatever you want to make you feel good,” says Philips. “It’s about the concept of this highlight coming on the inner corner of the eye. … draw the attention to your eyes, it’s easy to wear and easy to apply in your daily makeup routine.”
In this case, it was one-look-fits-all, but Philips encourages experimentation in one's own application. “You can easily make this look your own,” he says. “The one thing that ties the concept together is the light in the inner corner of the eye. You can build it up, smoke it out or keep it natural.” As we Scandis know, when it comes to makeup, less is so often more.