Dior’s couture show gave the smokey eye a modern update

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3rd Jul 2019

Post-show at Dior haute couture autumn/winter ’19/’20, Peter Philips is upbeat. On the phone to Vogue, he explains how he’d wanted to hit refresh on the traditional smokey eye, but at the same time leave room for the model’s personality to define the final mood. “On one girl it can look more punkish, another more romantic. The power of this look is that it almost enforces the true attitude of the girl.”

The Belgian make-up artist, Dior’s creative and image director, knows a thing or two about how women want to feel, look and express themselves. He always has, and his long-standing appointments at some of the biggest fashion houses bears testament to this.

In Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest couture collection, a celebration of the many iterations of the black dress, more than 60 black-tone looks marched down the runway with Philips’s new-look, smokey eye peeking through Stephen Jones’s veil creations.

“The inspiration behind the look came when we were prepping the cruise show in Marrakech,” explains Philips. “We had just launched 3 Couleurs Tri(O)blique 053 Smoky Canvas Palette, and I made one especially for Maria Grazia, customising it for her, and gave it to her as a present. When I showed it to her, she said, ‘I was thinking of doing a smokey eye for the couture show and this is a sign.’ So I took her direction, and we actually didn’t talk about it again.”

The rest of the look was understated—no mascara, no clever strobes of highlighter or contoured cheekbones aided by bronzer—just a well-applied base of matte foundation. “Maria Grazia didn’t want a sexy, smokey eye, so I took out the mascara,” explains Philips. “You add mascara and it immediately makes it more sultry, gives it more attitude. We wanted nothing that evokes sexuality and this made it more dramatic.” When asked what’s to come, Philips remains characteristically elusive. “The catwalk is so different to the street,” he says. “Women probably want to feel sexier in real life, but just a little adjustment with this simple look on the eyes can change everything. It’s the ultimate in self-expression.”