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Backstage at New York Fashion Week was buzzing even more than usual. Influencers, press and other assorted onlookers, phones in hand, were hoping to get the first look at this season’s next Margiela beauty moment.
After makeup guru Pat McGrath created the porcelain doll look for the fashion house — contributing an ethereal but surreal element to Paris Couture Week’s standout show — runway beauty has soared back into the spotlight. Following Margiela’s closed backstage, makeup artists, beauty editors and content creators were left scrambling to figure out how mastermind McGrath pulled it off.
Keeping backstage closed was intentional, McGrath says. “The Maison Margiela show was a truly immersive, performative experience, and it was fabulous for the audience — both at the show and watching virtually — to experience the magic of his artisanal collection and the reveal of the runway in one captivating and breathtaking moment.”
The outsized response to the looks is indicative of an uptick in interest in fashion week’s beauty corner. “There’s been a growing fascination with backstage beauty recently,” McGrath says. She recalls the online reaction to the “alien-gelic skin” and crystal-studded ear makeup she created for Schiaparelli couture days before Margiela.
“I think what we’re experiencing is a broader appreciation for beauty as an art form and an understanding of how truly transformative it can be,” McGrath says. “I also think people are seeing that a lot of the beauty trends they see on social media actually originated from backstage beauty looks.”
More influencers are asking to go backstage for beauty purposes, tracing these trends to the source. Matt Newman, a hairstylist and @Mattloveshair on TikTok, began filming fashion week content once shows started up again post-pandemic. His videos documenting the backstage stylists doing models’ hair for the runway have racked up views in the millions. Last season’s video of Christian Siriano’s “balletcore” corset bun got 4.6 million views. An earlier video of Gigi Gorgeous’s ponytail at The Blonds hit over 30 million.
“After the Margiela show, there’s such a renewed interest in what’s going on backstage because of this look,” says Vogue senior beauty and wellness editor Margaux Anbouba. At New York Fashion Week, she says, there were more content creators and more people with big equipment than ever. It’s gotten more competitive, and access is getting tighter.
“The media evolution is exciting; it’s getting more people in on the conversation,” says Corey Reese, Bumble and Bumble SVP and global general manager. (Bumble and Bumble did looks at Collina Strada, Helmut Lang and Proenza Schouler.) “Backstage content is a critical vehicle for education and also inspiration, teaching new audiences how to get a look with tips, tricks, techniques and styling products.
The combination of editor and content creator presence has driven an uptick in interest in backstage beauty, experts agree. “When there is content highlighting that, it makes a brand seem more authentic than ‘just’ seeing the models on the runway,” says Juan Manuel Gonzalez, founder & CEO of beauty and cosmetics agency and consulting firm G & Co. It’s a win for brands, as it means more eyeballs on their work and products. But, experts say, as budgets remain tight, brands are still feeling out whether and how much budget to allocate to bring them into the fold. Some still rely on creators coming backstage on access alone — and, if Pat’s Margiela reaction is anything to go by, it’s a relatively safe bet. At least for now.
Still nascent
It’s worth brands investing in backstage beauty content creation, experts say. Influencer partnerships can help build trust.
“It’s always a benefit to allocate the capital accordingly to have content being created by people who are going to bolster the brand appearance in a way that you want it to be perceived,” Gonzalez says. By paying for the content, brands can maintain an element of control, he flags.
But brands are still testing the waters. “The economy has been quite resilient as it relates to consumer goods, but companies are extremely budget-conscious right now,” Gonzalez flags. Because of this, brands need evidence of strong ROI. The two key KPIs are brand trust and awareness, he says.
And when brands do grant access, it might not be paid. “Many [brands], what they can offer is free rides and access to what they have going on, and that’s about the maximum they can do just at the drop of a hat for a fun new idea,” Newman says. “Not everybody can create a budget out of thin air for something that they’ve never done before.”
Bobbi Brown, for instance, invites its long-term creator partners to attend shows, where they also often capture backstage content, says Aline Belda, SVP of global marketing for Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Because they’re invited to the show, it’s not a separate, paid opportunity. Backstage content drives conversation, feedback and community engagement, Belda says — especially on TikTok.
Fashion week is hard to get in on coming from a solely beauty background, says makeup artist and content creator Mirta Miler — another reason why some influencers are willing to go backstage for free. Miler’s PR team teed up her (unpaid) backstage visit at Christian Cowan this season, where she met Euphoria makeup artist and Half Magic Beauty founder Donni Davy.
Things are shifting as brands see value in tapping content creators. Now, all of Newman’s NYFW content is in partnership with Tresemmé. But he recalls trying to set up paid partnerships in 2022 for the AW23 season: brands weren’t biting. “Nobody understood,” he says: brands said it sounded cool, but they didn’t have the budget. He did it for free at 10 shows the following September. The videos garnered millions of views. He turned that into the Tresemmé gig.
TikTok content
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This week, Newman is in London, but not with a brand. Instead, he’s going un-sponsored to create organic content. The goal is to establish more partnership opportunities down the line, he says, by creating more proof of concept in cities beyond New York.
Scouting the next big trend
It’s especially worth it for brands because of the way backstage beauty trends are making their way off the runways and onto consumers.
Backstage is where many beauty trends are created, and social media has only accelerated this, McGrath says. “I’ve been experimenting with radiant ultra-highlighted skin at Margiela for many years, finally culminating in this season’s hyper-reflective, glass-skin moment,” she says. “So I truly believe that backstage beauty’s value also lies in its ability to kick-start trends and then inspire people all over the world to play and experiment with makeup.”
It’s the speed of how quickly looks from backstage are then adopted beyond the runway that’s changed, Reese says. “We saw this last season with bows. It became a huge trend that we’re still seeing worn by celebrities, on red carpets, and all over social by consumers.”
Belda agrees. “Backstage is a huge moment for brands to showcase their role in the creation of beauty trends,” she says. “Backstage content brings the full fashion experience right to people’s feeds, and through social, trends from backstage and the runway start to take off.”
This fashion week, brands from Luar to Marc Jacobs embraced bold beauty on the runway, from rhinestones to big hair. This is indicative of a wider shift, Newman and Miler agree. Christian Cowan leaned into the mob wife aesthetic with big wigs (à la Marc Jacobs), Miler says. “I think people are over the bores,” Newman says. He captured the 24-karat gold hair flakes at Christian Siriano. “Everybody wants to get a little bit glitz and glam again.” Backstage beauty content offers an avenue for people to lean into these types of looks.
New York may have seen an uptick in loud looks, but it’s the European shows where backstage beauty really kicks off, Vogue’s Anbouba says. “New York shows have more of a traditional beauty take most of the time — or a more grungy, city take,” she says. “We see the much more experimental stuff at the European shows.” Both Newman and Miler hope to do more of the European circuit next season.
Beauty editors and content creators alike will be waiting for moments to capture in London, Paris and Milan. Anbouba notes Schiaparelli as one to count on for stand-out beauty looks. “I’m really hoping for another moment there.”
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