London Fashion Week – Corrie Nielsen

Amber Davies is at London’s Mayfair Hotel covering the Corrie Nielsen show at London Fashion Week 2013 and brings us this backstage beauty report…

CORRIE NIELSEN “Forbidden Liaisons”
Ready to Wear Collection Spring – Summer 2014
Friday 13th September 2013
At 12.30 pm The Mayfair Hotel, Stratton St, Mayfair, London, W1J 8LT

Beauty Report

Hair
The overall look created by hair team Serigo Renis and Gee Gee was “Fifties-esque with a modern twist.” The hair was given a sleek blow wave, teased and sculpted using Bumble and Bumble Gel Multi-Talented Sculpting Medium, then sectioned and pinned. This Geisha style “bun” gave an Oriental feel to the look. The final touch was a popular trend this season, stripy hair. This look was achieved with a single coloured clip in extension coming through down the back of the hair. It was beautifully executed with a high shine finish.

Below: Hair team at work.

Model in prep.

Below: finishing the bun.

Beauty
Make-up was directed by Nora Nona using Bobbi Brown, and here the Oriental love story continued. According to Nona her inspiration was a “nice but naughty girl look” which was created using graphic black eye liner under the eye only. “I feel all women have a dark, cheeky sassy side but in the recession reality is a bit of a kick up the arse,” Nona said.

Skin was very clean, highlighted with lowlights and highlights which gave a very theatrical look. When blended with air brushing this fed into the dream of creamy untouched skin. Lips were a “M” shape, with ‘kiss me’ lips painted in a seductive shade of an unobvious choice of orange, showing the mood for love. The final touch was a mole on the left side of the chin showing a different side of beauty. I was certainly brought into the dream of a seductive escape with this make-up showing a perfect collaboration between artist and designer.

Below: Liquid under-eye liner and a "M" lip.

Below: Nora Nona (Key Makeup Artist) air brushing.

The finished face.

Fashion Report

“The Forbidden Liaisons”

I was completely blown away with the sheer beauty and elegance of Corrie Neilsen’s designs. These were completely different to Neilsen’s last collection which had an aristocratic influence with traditional fabrics and masculine tailoring. This show struck a chord close to my heart with me being a hopeless romantic for any story of love and seduction set in a bygone era. It managed to combine a vintage “new look” influence with a mixture of unexpected combinations and modern techniques.

Neilsen was influenced by the far east in the 1950s with films such as “House of Daggers”, “In the Mood for Love” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” showing a powerful mix of emotions of love, lust, seduction and forbidden love.

The colour palette was equally as stunning with pastel shades of whites, creams, greens and yellows whilst traditional Oriental dresses were stunning in strong blues and reds. Fabrics used were duchess silk, latex, waxed cotton, silk organdie and woven lurex silk chiffon. These were combined with techniques of piping and fringing along with classic tailoring. Corrie’s love for playing with proportions also shone through. Corrie Nielson is certainly one to watch out for and – being a vintage girl myself – has altered my view on modern fabrics being equally as beautiful as vintage fabrics. Alongside this she managed to enhance my love of escaping from reality into a dream of love, passion and a forbidden world shrouded with beauty.

Below: Designer dressing a model.