Freezing rain couldn’t keep rock royals Gene, Anais, and Lennon Gallagher from showing up at Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show in Manchester yesterday. And fittingly so, as the beauty that walked Virginie Viard’s runway payed homage to the music culture that already runs through their veins. The Oasis brothers and Joy Division call Manchester their hometown, after all, and models in pearls, slept-in black eyeliner, and side bangs appeared as though they may have just washed off an inky hand stamp after sneaking out for a show at Pip’s Disco.
“Manchester is the basis of a music culture that has changed the face of the world,” Viard tells Vogue. To play off of the “vibrant pop spirit” that she infused in the house’s tweeds and quilted leather, models were given smudged-up reverse eyeliner that read like slept-in makeup from a night chasing afterparties.
Rather than a single black pencil, the look mixed deep red and denim for dimensional depth. First, Stylo Ombre et Contour khôl shadow stick in 08 Rouge Noir was applied outside the lash line and faded out gently. Next, a trace of Le Crayon Yeux eyeliner in 19 Blue Jean along the upper lids before coating every lash in jet black Le Volume Révolution de Chanel mascara.
At dusk, as the moody gazes strolled down an umbrella-dotted outdoor runway on Thomas street to the sounds of Soft Cell and New Order, it came alive. “Manchester is the city of music,” says Viard. For everyone considering I’m-with-the-band beauty, it’s permission to turn up the volume.
Photographed by Jamie Stoker