Tan was subtle at Roksanda Ilincic
For the sixth season in a row, St. Tropez is reinforcing its fashion status by bringing premium skin-finishing to London Fashion Week for the second show this week, working with hot ticket Roksanda Ilincic.
Having collaborated with St Tropez for a number of seasons, Roksanda enjoyed working closely with the St. Tropez team to decide on the effect that the skin would have for her autumn/winter 2012 show and explained why their relationship was so important to her:
"For my show, every aspect of the look needs to be considered, as even the final touches have a big impact. It is great when you can find a partner such as St. Tropez and you can work together season after season to create beautiful looks. They know what I want and always deliver."
Inspired by the original daring spirit of women in the 1940s bringing the comfort and practicality of menswear into their lives, while keeping an air of elegance and femininity, the collection with deep warm shades of burgundy and flashes of amethyst, white and jade evokes an outdoors, off screen and sporty spirit, flat shoes, tailoring and utilitarian fabrics mixed with gauze-like silks, statement jacquards and graphic embroidery, embrace a creative take on the androgynous 1940's taking reference from Katherine Hepburn and Amelia Earhart. The inspiration for the show was film in the Forties and celluloid or sepia-toned pictures. St. Tropez Skin Finishing Expert, Nichola Joss took her motivation from this to create a soft focus glow on the skin:
"Models' skin is pale but with a real warmth to it - just like that of a sepia photograph. For an autumn/winter show, there is still quite a lot of skin on show so I wanted to be able to give it a flushed terracotta tone."
Nichola started by buffing skin with St. Tropez Instant Glow Wash Off Mousse (£15.31) to even out skin tone and then saturated a tanning mitt with the Rose Skin Illuminator (£12.25) before smoothing it over the girls' skin for a radiant and metallic glow. Then, just when the models were in the line up waiting to go out onto the catwalk, she painted a strip of Body Butter down the legs and arms, where visible, using an acrylic paint brush:
"I wanted the skin to be dewy and morning fresh with a wet-look effect so that it ties into what Marc is doing with the hair and Lucia with make-up. It was important to use an acrylic paint brush that wouldn't absorb the product so as to get maximum pay-off onto the skin - the result is a slick finish!"
Creative Manager for Charles Worthington, Marc Trinder, was pulling hair into what he called 'The Grunge Bun': a small and neatly-placed bun which had a lived-in, slept-in texture. The key point of reference was the 'sideburns' that he was sticking down to the sides of the face with a high-shine wax to complement the luminosity of the skin. Make-up artist Lucia Pica also went for the sepia effect, sculpting sultry, smoky eyes and pressing gloss into the high points of the face and the apples of the cheeks to pick up the light and merge seamlessly with the rest of the body thanks to Nichola's handy work.
Roksanda's show never fails to impress both beauty and fashion press and by her continued collaboration with St Tropez the fashion tan still reigns supreme - just this time with a retro yet very modern twist.
Tagged in Katherine Hepburn shoes fashion Skin Nichola Joss