A Q&A with Gareth -
YOU WORK WITH INCREDIBLE MATERIALS AND CONTRASTS OF TEXTURES IN YOUR CLOTHES. DID YOU WANT THIS COLLECTION TO BE vERY TEXTURALLY RICH, TOO?
Yes, I wanted the finish of the products to be very texturally versatile and multi-faceted. For example, there’s an amazing two tone Lipglass and Nail Lacquer that can both be worn alone or used as a top coat, over one of the darker lipsticks or nail varnishes – on their own they are very subtle and beautiful, but by overlaying them over a dark base, the two tone aspect of the product is emphasised and they really ‘flash’ – from an emerald green to a deep purple. I didn’t want the products to be one dimensional or too specific. I think it’s nice that the textures have a level of diversity, so that you can bring uniqueness to the look you achieve for yourself.
THE LASHES REALLY STAND OUT: TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU DESIGNED THESE?
The idea with the lash was my way of getting something very graphic into the actual product. I just took a load of the biggest lashes that M·A·C makes and started chopping them up into different shapes. The thing with lashes is that they tend to be a very ‘lash’ shape whereas I wanted to do something that looked more non-conventional and angular: not something you tend to see a lot with lashes. From shooting our video and seeing how they work on the film, I really feel that these triangular lashes make the eyes look very beautiful. Worn top and bottom, they give this very angular, horse blinker, effect. Fake lashes can be very referential of old Hollywood and film noir glamour whereas I wanted to do something that was much more fresh and modern looking.
FILM IS INTEGRAL TO THE WAY YOU PRESENT YOUR COLLECTIONS. HOW DOES IT WORK IN THIS COLLECTION? In the fashion films I do with director Ruth Hogben we’ve
managed to create an aesthetic that’s very strong, visual and immediate which has a great impact....more impact, I think, than when my clothes are on the catwalk. So it was very obvious to me that I wanted to do a film with M·A·C for this project. To see things in movement, rather than just a still image, reads a lot more than in one-dimensions. And it’s a very interesting and new way of approaching traditional advertising campaigns, to start with a moving image and then take still images from that. I think that working like this really helps visually unify the whole concept of the makeup line. We’ll have a film that’s about two and a half minutes long and then the still images...but because they all come from the same place they will have a very powerfully unified vision.
HOW DID YOU WORK ALONGSIDE PRODUCT DEvELOPMENT? There was a lot of backwards and forwards between us – I was being very specific! I don’t use a great deal of colour in my work but I knew it was incredibly important with this to get it right – it’s sort of the most important aspect of the collaboration really, and it had to work together as a collection. The end result was worth all the tweaking: everything is going in the same direction and singing from the same song sheet – it’s very satisfying to see it all come together.
