Schiaparelli just put black lipstick back on the map

When it comes to beauty, Schiaparelli never disappoints. From Kendall Jenner’s runway bouffant – the one that sparked a thousand big hair ideals – to Pat McGrath’s crystallised “chandelier face” (both in the brand’s spring/summer 2024 show), there’s always a bounty of beauty inspiration to take away. It makes sense, then, that for the autumn/winter 2025 couture show, the brief would be no different: striking, moment-making beauty that requires a second look to glean every last detail.

Hot on the heels of the glittering Le Bal d’Été on Sunday evening, Schiaparelli presented a glamorous, ethereal take on modern beauty, keyed by the genius pairing of make-up artist Dame Pat McGrath and hairstylist Guido Palau.

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“It’s almost a study of black and white photography,” McGrath shares, speaking to British Vogue backstage. “So, as we always do at Schiaparelli, the skin is very angelic and highlighted with beautiful, gleaming skin texture with the glass skin spray (the Skin Fetish Glass 001) on the cheekbone area alone.” For the eyes, which were noticeably devoid of much adornment, McGrath used just one lick of her Pat McGrath Labs Fetisheyes Mascara on models' lashes and then the Mothership I Subliminal eyeshadow palette to shade the eyelids.

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The pièce de résistance, though, came in the form of the lip. Models either sported a rich, inky black shade, topped with a lacquer of clear gloss, or – for a chosen – a punchy red. For the models wearing red, the highly defined lip was the work of McGrath’s Legendary Longwear Lipliner in shade Elson to outline and colour in the shape, creating a colour “tattoo” of sorts. For those sporting black, McGrath reached for her new PermaGel Ultra Glide eye pencil to get the jet-black, creamy colour.

Her advice to recreate it at home? Draw the outline as cleanly and sharply as possible, taking a small eyeshadow brush to buff the colour out into the centre of the lip, filling it in with more pencil.

Ultra-clean and stark, the effect is, in McGrath’s words, a futuristic take on the glamour of black and white photography. “I wanted a really modern take. That’s where we went with the power of the lip and the power of the mouth,” she says. “It’s all about contrast.”

For the hair, Palau pushed a classic style into the future, playing with shape, dimension and projection. “For Schiaparelli, we worked out this idea of a beautiful, pulled-together woman with a snatched-back, clean, sophisticated, chic chignon that’s kind of conical,” Palau shares from backstage with British Vogue. “[The chignons] extend the head shape. Doing a chignon or a knot but pulling it out really gives you a great lift,” he explained.

Naturally, the front row glinted with stars. Hunter Schafer, with an elegant chignon of her own, and Cardi B, wearing a sleek bumped bob and dramatic beaded ensemble, shared the pew with a faux-feathered Dua Lipa.