The Gothic Eyeliner At Rodarte F/W ‘23 Further Solidifies The Death Of The Clean Girl Aesthetic

Taking place in February and March, the fall/winter fashion show season acts as a vibe shift for the tail end of the year: the hair, makeup, and nail moments seen backstage and on the runways are a sneak peek at the beauty looks primed to dominate in the next six months. At New York Fashion Week, Rodarte’s Fall/Winter ‘23 show hints at the official return of angsty, moody, makeup consisting of bold, black goth eyeliner and matching lips. And while the look is edgy, there’s a hint of glamour that even clean girl enthusiasts will find enticing enough to go over to the dark side come fall 2023.

The official makeup inspiration for the goth fairy-themed show came from a random video of goth girls riding the subway that designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy texted to lead makeup artist James Kaliardos. From there, Kaliardos sketched a number of graphic eyeliner looks in various bold, linear shapes to disperse among the 61 models who walked the show. Kaliardos used tape and an eyebrow pencil to create the shapes, then went in with NARS Climax Liquid Eyeliner to fill the color. He added royal blue, hunter green, or pewter accents to the black liner for added depth.

For complexion, Kaliardos gave the models’ skin a radiant glow using NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and the Orgasm Four Play Palette for blush, which is where he said the fairy vibes came in. “Goth girls wouldn’t wear concealer and blush,” he said. The final touches were matte black or royal blue lipstick to complete the dark and gloomy aesthetic.

The reference material for hair also came to lead hairstylist Odile Gilbert via a text from the Mulleavy sisters. “They [Kate and Laura] sent me a photo of Angelica Huston as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family,” she tells TZR backstage.

While Wednesday Addams is having a moment thanks to Netflix’s hit series, Wednesday, Morticia is the blueprint for gothic glamour. As the matriarch of the ghoulish family in the 1991 film, Huston wore long, straight, jet black hair parted down the middle with volume at the crown. To keep the Rodarte style more modern, Gilbert nixed the volume and instead added two braids at the start of the models’ middle parts.

The stylist created the straight but fluid texture of the hair with TRESemmé Pro Infusion Fluid Smooth Hair Tonic. She dampened the hair, spritzed the tonic through the lengths, and then blow-dried it smooth. For models with short hair or natural texture, their hair was boosted with the tonic for extra shine.

Aside from a singular white flower crown moment, some of the models wore silver crowns and elfin ear pieces with chains. While those with heavy crowns wore wigs to be spared of a headache and hair pulls, Gilbert says she used the braids and “twisted their hair in knots around the ear piece accessories to keep them in place.”

And no goth beauty look is complete without dramatic long talons. Models wore glossy black stiletto nails dipped in pewter polish, created with Morgan Taylor Lacquers. So if Rodarte’s F/W ‘23 beauty look is any indication, the beauty vibe next season is going to be moody, edgy, and incredibly exciting.