Isamaya Ffrench’s Gold Foil Lids at Halpern Are a Disco Party Look Worthy of a Saturday Night in London
It isn’t always easy to pin down Isamaya Ffrench, one of the makeup industry’s most in-demand visionaries. Yes, she flew to New York to produce the painterly eyes at Eckhaus Latta’s show last week, and based on her latest campaign with Gucci there are high hopes that she’ll be lending her hand to their Paris catwalk, but generally she’s a rare bird during fashion month. Luckily, she and London-schooled designer Michael Halpern are on a bit of a streak for sparkling disco looks of late.
Inside the ballroom of a Park Lane hotel, Halpern’s Studio 54–inspired collection of sequin-drenched capes and featherlight lamé dresses were offered yet another twinkling golden flourish that Ffrench dreamed up for the reigning king of retro glam. A more colorful riff on the glittering cat-eyes she applied last season, today’s look elevated the gilded aesthetic with lids roughly color-blocked in rainbow shades of MAC paints and topped with tissue-thin sheets of gold leaf. This time, the luxe foiled effect extended all the way to models’ eyebrows (and sometimes, beyond) for a crackled gaze that had three-dimensional glitz.
Framed by hairstylist Sam McKnight’s liquid-smooth waves and fluttery strips of false lashes, the high-fashion flourish feels destined for a dance-floor moment (hopefully met with genre-appropriate mirror-ball lighting). To be fair, it’s almost a shame that the works of midafternoon eyelid art weren’t part of a later presentation so that models could step straight off of the runway and into cabs directed towards London’s Saturday night after-party scene. Nevertheless, Ffrench’s singular ability to capture a modern mix of ’70s charm and underground cool is sure to be reimagined by her loyal following of tapped-in cosmetics buffs. Stay tuned for DIY adaptations.
