Catwalk queen

TEN minutes came the shout from a heavily tattooed, hipster stylist as he races through the backstage area at Maria Grachvogel, at the opening day of London Fashion Week, nimbly avoiding concentrated knots of makeup artists, nail techs and hairdressers who are beating the clock to fine-tune the polished beauty look the designer expects out on the runway in double-quick time.

It’s a scene repeated the next morning at Simone Rocha, where in the packed, frenetic backstage area Mac makeup artists are islands of calm as they battle to get 23 models catwalk-fit in an equally tight time-frame. Clothes horses love fashion week, a twice-annual event in autumn and spring that’s the culmination of half a year’s work for a designer. For those on the Frow — or the front row — it’s 10 or 15 minutes of admiring the clothes before they head to the next presentation, but so much more goes on behind the scenes; and for a beauty buff, there’s just as much to admire.

Because it’s backstage where makeup trends for six months down the line are incubated, hothoused and finessed by some of the world’s leading artists like Terry Barber, Val Garland and Charlotte Tilbury: expect what they send down the catwalk now to adorn eyes, lips and cheeks in Autumn 2012. For Simone Rocha’s show, the inspiration came firmly from her native land. “We wanted the makeup to look outdoorsy and weathered,” said key artist Shinobu, who created the look. Rocha’s modern clothes have deep roots into Irish craft traditions and this was reflected by the use of pale skin, flushed cheeks and faux freckles for a fresh take on a west of Ireland beauty.