Last days of Paris Fashion Week, Pat McGrath receives in the large living room of the imperial suite of the Ritz, with a view on the Place Vendôme. Nothing is too good for the "Mother of make-up" as she likes to be called. While she presents her latest products for the complexion of her brand Pat McGrath Labs, unexpectedly arrives the top model Amber Valletta. Gone in the breeze to try - and immediately adopt - foundations and concealers that the makeup artist used this month in backstage of the parades. "It's fun because it was with Amber that I made my first magazine cover in the early 1990s," recalls Pat McGrath. It was for French Glamor under the lens of Craig McDean, a bare skin make-up, the look simply framed with silver pigments posed in a futuristic halo. ”
Pat McGrath to come
Hundreds of photo series will follow, notably with Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia and as many parades in Paris, Milan, London and New York. It's very simple, in twenty years, Pat McGrath has become the most influential make-up artist in the industry. Just remember the extravagant looks created over many seasons for Christian Dior John Galliano era, the bristles of faux fur of the girls of Alexander McQueen (fall-winter 2014), the face entirely covered with Swarovski crystals, lace and sequins by Givenchy (spring-summer 2014), the color block eyeshadows that draw a science-fiction face for Louis Vuitton in 2016 ... Make-ups made for the fashion show: whimsical and sharp.
It was at the end of 2015, when the Briton was in the process of achieving the minimalist complexion and all-gold mouth of Prada's summer 2016, that she imagined launching her own line, Pat McGrath Labs. “I've always been obsessed with gold, but textures that are often too powdery, not metallic enough, rarely work in makeup. But this eyeshadow that would become my Gold 001, used for the first time on this Prada show, was magnificent, both in eyeliner close to the lashes and on the lips and cheekbones. I decided to produce a few units, barely a thousand, for the blink of an eye. The limited series sold out in just a few seconds, which blew up our website! ”
Saturated pigments and intuitive textures
After having contributed to the design of the Armani, Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci makeup lines for the past twenty years, the entrepreneur has therefore chosen to launch her own range of lipsticks with an ultra-mat finish, palettes with holographic reflections (124 euros ), from gloss to hypnotic shine… “These are eyeshadows designed first for me, to simplify my work in backstage where you have to make up several girls at the same time, always go very fast. In this context, I need saturated pigments and textures that slide naturally. It is in this state of mind that I thought of my collection with comfortable and easy formulas, "insists the one who is inspired as much by Hollywood glamor and make-ups drawn to the millimeter by Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo as by insolent allure of his idols of the 1970s (with David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Pat Cleveland, Donyale Luna, Jerry Hall in mind…) in mind.
Palette with holographic reflections from the Pat McGrath Labs PAT MCGRATH range
To these pigments which break the monotony of nude, Pat McGrath is now adding a wide range of products for the complexion. This season, at Miu Miu, Prada, Valentino, Loewe, Paco Rabanne and the others, she has shaped invisible skins. “In magazines as on the catwalks, the complexion remains essential. And to serve as a basis for the color, it must be as fresh and transparent as possible, as if flooded with light. Glow is more than just a trend. It makes the skin vibrate, gives it that three-dimensional aspect that makes it even more alive and immediately adds a healthy side to the look. ” Foundation (72 euros), primer, powder, highlighter, concealer (34 euros) ... The makeup artist appointed member of the Order of the British Empire for services rendered to fashion and beauty in 2014 by the queen Elizabeth II, thought of everything. And if, with intuition, she first proposed her line only on the internet, her eyeshadows became cult in a few seasons are now available at Sephora. Revered by beauty fans, they would even be in the top 3 of makeup sales. And his brand, valued at over a billion dollars.
Pat Mc Grath concealer PAT MCGRATH
Pat Mc Grath foundation PAT MCGRATH