Runway ready

Boho sophistication at Christian Dior from Pat McGrath. Photo / Supplied.

The fantastical fashion and beauty looks seen on the international runways make for grand theatre. Some might say of the absurd, but to fashion followers the creativity on display is awe inspiring. It can cause seismic shifts in global style settings.

Perhaps the return of the perm - based on all the frizzy hair seen at the big overseas shows this year. There will also be no escaping gold eyeshadow or blood-dark lips in the months to come.

Dressing like a courtier at Versailles may not catch on, but the accompanying controlled curl and a precisely drawn, pursed red lip seen at John Galliano is easier to translate.

So too are the silver screen sirens at the autumn-winter Jean-Paul Gaultier show, Dior's Bohemian flappers with smoky purple eyes and bobby pinned crops, and the album-cover glamazons at Yves St Laurent. Chanel's Clockwork Orange eye makeup is strictly for the runway, though its nude-pink lips have wide appeal.

Expect to see some of these trends at our Fashion Week and, given the endless mining of the 80s , winged club-crazy eyeshadow and Human League hairstyles too. If it's good enough for Marc Jacobs ...

Beauty looks like these turn up in the glossies, where they are analysed and adapted. Makeup tested on models ends up on the mall counter. Hairstyles are deconstructed and reappear in celebrity photo-shoots only to be widely copied like Anne Hathaway's braid and Rhianna's quiff.

If you doubt the trickle-down theory of fashion, then check out the September Issue or the scene in The Devil Wears Prada where the Anna Wintour-like editor, played by Meryl Streep, skewers her young assistant's contemptuous indifference by cuttingly explaining how a certain couture shade of Cerulean blue ended up in her sales-bin acrylic jumper.

A small group of top makeup artists and hair-stylists create the influential runway looks, joined by huge teams of helpers at the big four shows in Paris, Milan, London and New York. Some like Bobbi Brown and Francois Nars have launched their own beauty brands off the back of their reputations built at fashion weeks and on photo shoots.

Others, like New Zealander Aaron De Mey, stood out from the crowd and were elevated into top industry jobs, such as his role as creative director at Lancome.

Artists like Pat McGrath are held in as much esteem as many designers and work regularly for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Dior, setting trends such as the current one for aggressive eye makeup teamed with shiny pale lips. (If you want to try this look at home, McGrath says a smoky eye is better twinned with a slightly pink or shimmered lip, rather than the true nude seen on the runway).

Another makeup luminary, Tom Pecheux, who made velvety red lips de rigeur at YSL, says they make women feel powerful. The ultra brights aren't just a winter thing, wear them this spring to give a hot new look to floaty fashions.

Hair trends to watch for are messy ponytails and up-dos, off-centre buns, and the casual long waves seen at Chanel to soften the graphic eye makeup.

This week, New Zealand's top makeup artists and hairstylists are meeting designers to pin down their show week styles. A few have already sorted the looks they want, but many are still waiting for the muse to strike.

Last-minute inspiration is not unusual, says senior makeup artist Amber Dreadon who leads the M.A.C team which will work on 19 shows. She's used to having to interpret a designer's concept - or conjure one up to match their unfinished clothes - all the while trying to say in sync with hairstylists to provide a unified look for a collection.

Early this year, Dreadon was in Milan where she helped on eight shows, including for Marni, Salvatore Ferragamo, Armani, Costume National and DSquared2.

She says last-minute planning is endemic to the industry: "At the Alberta Ferretti show we were changing everything with about a minute to go."

Dreadon, who hopes to return to Milan early next year, said working on the shows was a huge adrenalin buzz and one of the bonuses of working for a backstage beauty brand like M.A.C which is a dominant force on the show circuit.

As well as its makeup artists from across the globe, a team of technical development people attend shows to get direct feedback on new products and adapt them as necessary before they go on sale.

At ANZFW, another beauty brand that has its origins in providing professional makeup, will also figure backstage. Smashbox Cosmetics, which grew out of the Los Angeles film and television industry and was founded by the grandsons of Max Factor, is doing makeup at three shows.

Many of our top hairstylists are involved in Fashion Week also. Servilles is presenting a trend overview and running seminars on Fashion WeekEND, Bettjemans will again work with Trelise Cooper, but the busiest stylists with be the teams from Ryder and Stephen Marr, who are each doing upward of half-a-dozen shows.

Viva will feature some of Fashion Week's key hair and beauty looks in a trends wrap-up in the September 30 issue.