Meet the metahuman maker designing the next generation of models

Katarina Håkansson has always been ahead of her time. The Swedish makeup artist made waves in New York in the 1990s, bringing a Glossier-esque glow to skin that was at the time revolutionary. She then launched her eponymous skincare line – at Paris’ legendary Colette boutique, no less – that boasted the sort of clean, vegan credentials that, while coveted today, hadn’t quite caught on 20 years ago. Now, as many of us nod along uncertainly to talk of non-fungible tokens and the metaverse, Håkansson has plunged herself into the digital world without a single backward glance. “I guess I’ve always been a bit of a futurist,” she says.

As we connect via video call, I find Håkansson juggling a prosthetic face and a VR headset. Her work in virtual and augmented worlds isn’t just an exercise in staying relevant; she is deeply fascinated by the possibilities of the digital universe, and it is equally fascinating to observe.

Currently, Håkansson is working with 3D developed characters: a troupe of ‘metahumans’ that she designs entirely from scratch as the canvas for her ‘metabeauty’ work. “There are so many new ways to express yourself with beauty and makeup now. I am used to having a brush in my hand, now I can have a brush in so many different ways,” she says, referring to the sophisticated texturing and programming undertaken to create her virtual beauty looks on the ‘metahumans’.

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The facial features of the uncannily human-like characters aren’t consciously based on anyone that Håkansson knows, yet she admits to developing a personal attachment to the creations. She describes her lineup of ‘metahumans’ as “basically like a modelling agency, just like the old charts with all of the boys and girls”.

As our conversation swerves through a whirlwind of meta-related topics, Håkansson reveals that she’s academically accomplished and intellectually immersed in almost every subject. She has attended a coding bootcamp, completed a course in artificial intelligence and, as part of that course, delivered essays on avatars - an area that she is becoming specialised in.

“It’s just such an interesting thing in itself, how people interact with their own avatars... what people want to be,” she says. “I spent months reading about it. Some people want to be an animal. It’s just like, ‘What do I feel like today? Am I going to be skinnier, younger? Am I going to be more beautiful?’ You see so many different desires.”

Considering the ways in which desires translate into avatars, does Håkansson feel that 'metabeauty’ can dismantle unhealthy beauty standards and ideals in the physical world? “I don’t,” she responds. “I mean, fashion is always evolving. You take ideas from other industries, like films and gaming, into beauty and fashion and vice versa. It’s give and take from both sides.” For Håkansson, ‘metabeauty’ is another integrated piece of a complex puzzle.

Her voice on the topic is one deserving of attention, given her legendary history in the industry. While it seems worlds away from the kind of work she’s doing now, Håkansson looks back fondly on her years collaborating with top talent during a groundbreaking era in New York. Busy and booked by the “big boys”, as she dubs the leading photographers of the late 20th century (think Peter Lindberg, Helmut Newton and Mikael Jansson), Håkansson was producing work for French and British Vogue, and for mega clients such as Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, and Donna Karan.

Reflecting on her journey to present day, Håkansson sees it as an empowering shift. “I have been standing next to photographers my whole life and thinking, ‘Oh, I can see something else here, something that they don’t see’. So they do their thing, and depending on the photographer, I’ve had to follow their aesthetic. But now, with the ‘metahumans’, it’s like being able to control a whole shoot,” she says. “I can decide the angle, the lighting. Essentially, with photography, it’s a moment that you freeze, just a moment. And for me, it’s so interesting that you can simulate that artificially.”

Another important part of her journey has been her brand venture, simply named ‘Håkansson’, which launched in 2001 out of a desire for new challenges. “If I had launched the brand now, everyone would have understood what I was doing. But back then, it was a big hill to climb to explain what it was: pared down, vegan, without perfume,” she explains. It garnered a firm cult following, but cracking the mainstream proved “a battle” and Håkansson again began to seek out “something new, some new way”.

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While ‘metabeauty’ is a pathway that Håkansson has been confidently forging for several years now, she acknowledges its darker and ethically dubious sides. “It’s fascinating, but maybe at the same time, it’s a little scary. Where is this going?” she questions. “When something is almost real, that’s when it becomes eerie, unnerving. Something can look perfectly realistic, but there’s one thing, a stare or something, that breaks it and that’s when you enter the uncanny valley. It’s not a nice feeling.”

Scrolling through Håkansson’s ‘metahumans’ showcased on her Instagram feed, any unsettling ‘uncanny valley’ feelings are superseded by the mesmerising techniques, animations and immersive graphics of the anthropomorphic creations, as well as the overwhelming sense that Håkansson is a visionary. For those of us who may be resisting inevitable digital advances, it’s time to take notes from Håkansson’s attitude of curiosity and open-mindedness. “The more that I get into it, the more I discover how much there is to learn in this field, every day there is a new development,” she says . “But I’m following my heart, and I’m just learning more and more with each day that passes. passes. I guess this is what I’m doing now.”