Makeup Legend - Alex Box

She is no ordinary artist- she is one that has opened up new possibilities of what beauty means to us. She has harboured a fusion between art, craft, science and fashion and released it to the world with such intense imagery that she can go un-noticed. She is – Alex Box.

“I was the only

goth in the village,” she says of her upbringing in a small village on the outskirts of Grimsby. Even now with her statement blond stripe through her jet black hair, teamed with red lips and pale skin she keeps an essence of goth updated with a vintage twist.

The young Alex Box soon spread her gothic wings to study Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and went on to become a successful installation artist exploring the relationship between the body and the environment.

Hand Painted Makeup by Alex

She went on to refine this exploration and started making an impact in her unique style of “experimental beauty”, which secured her regular editorials in Vogue, I-D magazine, 10, Harpers Bazaar and Show Studio online.

When Alex teamed up with world famous photographer Rankin– who is himself a legend for a book to showcase her work it was set to be an explosive visual statement.

Rankin Image 1

Rankin Image 2

Rankin Image 3

Rankin has photographed everyone from Madonna to Spice Girls and David Bowie to The Rolling Stones. He not only started Dazed and Confused magazine but also publishes his own magazine Rank as well as Another Magazine and Another Man.

For Alex the collaboration was perfect “Rankin is very anthropological in his approach to photography” “I make a character and he takes a picture. I didn’t want to have to sift through layers to get through to the image, and that’s exactly what Rankin did.”

The coffee table treat will let you delight in Alex Box’s unusual makeup techniques sampling ingredients like post it notes and icing sugar and to finish each face. The book is a feast of intriguing and captivating imagery that pulls you into a story inspiring you to finish.

Illamasqua - The newest makeup brand on the counter - is Alex Box’s next expression of art. She is currently the creative director behind the cosmetic brand and describes her mission here “I want to inspire people through the power of image," "My message is; 'dare to be different'.

The Illamasqua range gives you cosmetics to experiment and explore the bolder, darker side of you.  It is a makeup brand that plays with mystical figures and ethereal fantasies to let us makeup our alter ego.  A perfect match for the artist who describes her own style as an "An acid goth"!

 Click to purchase Alex Box - the book

Click for more info on Illamasqua

Makeup Legend: Pat McGrath

“The most influential makeup artist in the world” Vogue 2007

What an amazing title to be given by such a fashion power-house as Vogue, but even bigger to have to up-hold it.  British born Makeup Artist Pat Mcgrath has done just that.   Her career for more than 2 decades has meant for anyone in the fashion world, Pat McGrath is a household name.  She made a name for herself as quite a cosmetic craftswomen with her inspiring use of colour and handmade makeup which she preferred to apply by hand and the creative use of accessories to finish her designs.

She is best known for her show-stopping makeup designs adorning models faces with paint, glitter, flowers and fabrics transforming even the most famous of faces – unrecognisable!

Her biggest influence is her mother from whom she learnt to get creative and mix products and colours together as there was little out there for darker skin back then. 

                                                                             
Gisele Bundchen                                                          Linda Evangelista

With no formal makeup training she started her career after graduating from Northampton Art College and got her “big break” working with Edward Enninful, the then Fashion Editor for I-D Magazine.  He describes her work as ranging from "the highest couture to club kids” and names her as integral for putting I-D Magazine on the               international map.                                                               

Pat spent the 90s dominating the backstage of the the ready-to-wear and couture shows heading around 10 shows per season for Dior, Galliano, Prada, Lanvin, Mui Mui, Victor and Rolf and Valentino and more.

She is considered one of THE most influential makeup artists in the world and so in 1999 Giorgio Armani employed her expertise in the field to design his own makeup range – Every makeup artists dream!!!  

Proctor and Gamble went on announce her as Global Design Director in 2004, to take care of brands like Max Factor, Covergirl and Dolce and Gabbana. She is rumoured to head advertising campaigns for up to £40k a time on brands such as Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Balenciaga and her work has been photographed in Vogue Italia, American Vogue and W Magazine.

 

Despite her elevated status as a Makeup Legend and supermodels describing her as their “Backstage Mum’ with her gentle caring nature.  What intrigues me the most about Pat McGrath is the allure she has created by not capitalizing on her brand with a McGrath-Following.   Makeup books, branded schools and training and her own cosmetics line even are all viable possibilities for a woman in her position to increase her influence and earnings.  
She does not even have her own website!  
Some may argue she does not need to as her agency Streeters are there for that.  However, I feel she remains true to her intrigue to find new inspiration and simply apply that to her passionate art and remain inspired to keep creating her masterpieces.  
In a Vogue interview she quoted "I'm influenced a lot by the fabrics I see, the colours that are in the collections and the girl's faces. It's always a challenge but that's the key - to make it different every time."
Her humility within her talent make her a rare breed in the world of fashion and a true example of her art.


John Galliano SS03 RTW - Makeup by Pat McGrath (one of my favourites), the inspiration was taken from Indian Festival of Colour - Holi!

Some back-stage pictures

Age of Androgyny

Are we in the Age of Androgyny in fashion? 

Fashion models have become progressively skinner since the curvy 90s losing their female contours and even male models being less toned and more lean.  The space between a female and male body on a catwalk is unmistakably smaller than 2 decades ago.  

The New York Times names 2010 as the Year of the Transsexual.  Now with the recent runway success of model new comer Andrej Pejic…. Is 2011 the Year of the Androgynous?

The fashion industry has been blurring the lines between male (Andro) and female (Gyn) for decades now. Music has also leant a helping hand with pop culture icons such as George Michael, Madonna and Michael Jackson.  More recently, Agynes Deyn and Tilda Swinton have represented a more asexual image

It has now become a fashion statement to be androgenous, with the boyish looks taking to the catwalks each season by some designer.  This year it was Karl Lagerfield who wants the ladies to “dress up in mannish shapes” for AW11. 

Interestingly, the direction of morphing of genders seems to be far more acceptable from female to male – we all remember Madonna’s song “What it feel like for a girl?” asking if men feel it to be degrading to look like a girl? I guess designers for female collections have had more creative freedom to give the ladies a limitless choice of garments with feminine and masculine undertones and cuts. 

The path of androgyny for men has been expressed, but most freely amongst the homosexual, bi-sexual and transgendered communities and more recently the newly formed metrosexual group.  How many men do you know that look at a fashion image and rule an outfit out because it “looks too gay?”.  The good news is this is changing - there has been recent mainstream developments to suggest that straight “Mens-Men” are becoming comfortable with appearing what we know as stereotypically-more-feminine.  

This is very evident in mens’ personal style these days, the Metro-Man is now wearing skinny jeans, man-bags and even into male grooming.  Jean Paul Gaultier’s makeup range for men – Monsieur is a further step.

The biggest leap however has to come from Andrej Pejic – half Serbain, half Croatian model from Australia. 

After being scouted while working in Macdonalds HE (yes he not she) is now represented by Storm and has walked in all the major runways for male and FEMALE collections….

Most famously he showcased the famous Gaultier wedding dress that was later worn by Rihanna at Grammys.

He was already a household name in men fashion, but seems to have taken the female fashion world by storm with his long golden hair, high cheekbones and full lips.  He is now in hot demand for womenswear shows and ad campaigns posing with female counter-parts to emphasise his synergy:

Here Andrej is on the right posing with female model Jani K

 So what is it about Andrej that is proving so popular, Clare Coulson, fashion features director of Harper's Bazaar explains why “"Andrej is the perfect coat-hanger," "Clothes look best on someone who is tall and skinny, on a long and lean silhouette."

It is obvious the space for Pejic to be a female only exists because females have been becoming more masculine for years.  Catwalk models have now lost their perky breasts, curvy hips and buttocks that were associated with a female body and has changed society’s view of what a female body should look like.  So skinny Pejic with his pretty angular face can emulate a female today which could never have been done 20 years ago.

Harriet Quick, Vogue fashion features director’s opinion is "For the past decade, fashion has concentrated on the alpha male and alpha female stereotype. Now it's all about questioning sexuality and blurring the boundaries. Andrej is reflecting our times - he's what's out there; he's reflecting culture.”

A culture I believe that is starting to defy the boys in blue and girls in pink label and beginning to really experiment with what it means to be ME….

The age of androgyny - Are we heading for a new generation of Asexual beings?

The Made-Up Life

I knew from a very early age that the Indian-approved-careers were not for me.  Although I was good with numbers I could never have been an accountant and a fascination in anatomy and biology did not mean a career in medicine, just as no interest in defending the man-made laws of our society ended all hopes of law school.

My interests as a child were in novels where my imagination ran wild and created fictitious worlds and films and TV characters that became part of that world.  What do I want to be when I grow up? was answered by dreams of becoming an artist!  But I quickly realised I was not skilled at bringing a blank canvas to life – not in an inspiring way anyway!

So it was my love of languages that started the creative path to my makeup career.  Sounds strange I know, but it was while I was living in Spain when makeup artistry was suggested to me as a career; by a friend I met there… And the seed was sown…

After graduating from London College of Fashion I was equipped with the skills to get painting faces and the enthusiasm and awe to jump into the fashion world – brush first!

My first job as a makeup and hair artist for The Big Issue 10^th Anniversary commercial was a shock to my naivety as a new artist.  I was in charge of making up 2 lead roles and smoothing over a cast of 20 extras.  The work was long and demanding, required me to multi-task in 10 places at once; be assertive in between takes yet professional and calm throughout!  Completely ill prepared I saw this as my on-the-job training and I left filled with exhilaration to have found where I belonged and a list of things I needed to improve for the next time.

Since then I have focussed my passion into developing my skills as an artist.  Growing up I never described myself as creative, I thought that word was confined to being a painter, sculptor or poet.  Now I know they were just not the mediums to express my creativity.

My career as a Makeup Artist requires me to have a business mind, be ordered and meticulous but needs me to be in love with colour and form and free in my expression of it.  My blank canvas now is any face that ignites me to create a story through my design - images that I hope are as ascetically appealing and mindfully intriguing to others as they are to me.

Cleopatra

"Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since."
This is the synopsis from Stacy Schiff's book Cleaopatra: A Life.

A new adaptation of Cleopatra's life is being made into a Hollywood motion picture to be starred by Angelina Jolie as the Eqyptian Queen, most famously played by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 movie.

Her jet black hair, bronzed contours and kohled eyes were perfectly depicted by Elizabeth, making for an iconic style whose influence has stretched to reach Tina Turner, Cheryl Cole and even late Michael Jackson!

My own tribute to this historic vintage queen was with my Bathing Goddess photoshoot: