Woven: Textiles in Makeup Design explores the ways in which cosmetics appropriate clothing materials. Delicate lace, nubby tweed and soft cashmere are just a few of the designs that have been imprinted onto makeup items in recent years. Conflating powder and fabric, these items fuse the normally separate spheres of makeup and textiles.
There has always been a significant relationship between beauty and fashion. Makeup is needed to finish the overall look at runway shows; many couture houses have their own beauty lines; and fashion designers collaborate with cosmetic companies for limited-edition collections. Then there's the idea of "fashion for the face" – that makeup should be just as stylish and expressive as the clothes one wears. The items in this show take the concept literally by embossing patterns used for clothing onto makeup.
I hope you enjoy the first Makeup Museum special exhibition!
(Top shelves, left to right)
Chanel Tweed Effect blush and Physician's Formula Cashmere Wear Bronzer:
Burberry eye shadow and lipstick:
Shu Uemura Prima palette:
Dolce and Gabbana Sicilian Lace palette:
(Bottom shelves, left to right)
Chanel Ombres Tisseés palette:
MAC Jeanius eye shadows:
Dior Lace-Effect Powder:
Armani Jacquard eye shadow palette:
Exhibition notes
Inspiration: I was originally inspired by this blurb in InStyle Magazine from March 2011. Yes, nearly a year. That's how long this idea has been in my head!
Logistics: This was one of the smaller exhibitions I've put together, yet it took the longest. Since it's the first non-seasonal exhibition I've done I had to put a bit more thought into it. And due to the position of the shelves, photographing exhibitions in this space is always difficult.
Curation: There are so many more things I could have included – I would have loved to have purchased the Revlon and Valerie Beverly Hills palettes that the InStyle page mentions. Chanel's Pink Lamé was originally in included in the exhibition, as well as Stila's Perfectly Peach tweed-texture clutch and the black satin Brilliant clutch palettes, but I only have so much space. So I picked out what I thought would be most interesting and in keeping with the theme (which is why I ultimately ruled out Stila's purse palettes, as only the outer packaging involved textiles and not the makeup itself). Also, I'm not a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow but that white suit really is the best example of Armani jacquard that I could find.
Paper/design: If you look closely, you'll notice I selected a woven-textured paper for the labels. A big thanks to the husband for laying them out, helping me with the exhibition poster, and for letting me move his stuff off the shelves temporarily. 🙂