Barbie may have dominated 2023, but for fall 2024, Marc Jacobs is thinking about another kind of doll entirely. “We talked about paper dolls,” makeup artist Diane Kendal tells ELLE.com of her chats with the designer ahead of his runway show at the Park Avenue Armory tonight, which celebrated 40 years of his eponymous brand. To transform the models into living, breathing toys, Kendal drew inspiration from one of the most doll-like icons in history: Diana Ross—in the ’60s, to be exact.
The look focused on the lashes, plural—a double set on the top lash line, and another on the bottom. During makeup and hair tests for the runway, which took two days, the MJ team experimented with creating exaggerated lashes with just mascara alone. Jacobs loved the look, but really wanted to “push it,” according to Kendal. “I racked my brain trying to figure out how to do it. And then, I thought, We’ll coat it with nail polish, so it gets a shiny, vinyl effect and goes completely spidery. Then we’ll double it up.”
A model shows off her eye makeup backstage.
Instead of mascara, lots of black nail polish went on top of Duo false lashes to give them a glossy, melted down effect with shiny clusters. For the rest of the face, Kendal started by prepping the skin with Cetaphil products (the brand’s Deep Hydration Healthy Glow Daily Cream and the Gentle Skin Cleanser, specifically). The lashes were not the only highlight of the look: white greasepaint was applied to the corners of the eyes and underneath, for contrast, and a taupe-y contour was painted onto cheekbones.
To wrap up the rest of the doll-like glam, models headed to “the hair room,” manned by hairstylist Duffy. A modestly-sized space had become fragrant with an obscene amount of Elnett, and dozens of mannequin heads on folding tables held bouffants teased out to almost a foot long, whipped into an almost cotton candy-like consistency.
A trio of wigs.
Nail artist Jin Soon Choi sat with Jacobs for hours to hand-match the skin tone of each model to one of three “unexpected” opaque nudes. “No, Jin, it has to be done, case-by-case,” Jacobs told her, and the pair settled on three CND shades: Bare Chemise, Satin Pajamas, and We Want Mauve. He didn’t want a sheer, pretty look, says Choi, and instead requested short, gel nails to get a more “polished, opaque” aesthetic. At the rehearsal for the presentation, director Sofia Coppola filmed the procession of models passing through the set, comprised of a folding table and chairs, its proportions large enough to make everyone feel like a doll. And if that isn’t enough, you can always tack on a double set of lashes and use nail polish as mascara.