Marc Jacobs Paid Homage To The ‘60s With 108 Wigs

Being backstage at Marc Jacobs’ Spring 2024 show was a haze. Quite literally, as lead hairstylist Duffy and his team dyed, blow-dried, crimped, and coiffed 108 human hair wigs, then set the larger-than-life side-bang bouffants with a cocktail of strong-hold hairsprays from L’Oréal Paris, Bumble and bumble, Redken, and TRESémme. The brief from designer Marc Jacobs started with a photo of The Supremes, so the voluminous styles were created with the larger-than-life, trendsetting hairstyles of ‘60s girl groups in mind.

“The collection plays with proportions and exaggerated silhouettes,” Duffy says backstage. “There are loads of layers of references throughout the collection. From a beauty perspective, he [Jacobs] wanted the idea of excess and a play on proportions and structure.”

Duffy says the look isn’t a direct copy or literal interpretation of The Supremes’ styles, but rather, they served as a starting point. “We had to strip them [full-lace human hair wigs] from silicone, hand-color them all, crimp them all, and then set them,” the stylist shares. Each of the show’s 47 looks feature models wearing two wigs and a big doughnut on top of their heads.

All of the wigs were hand-colored in an array of shades that didn’t look “too cosmetic”, as directed by Jacobs. “There’s a reference picture on the mood board of cabaret girls. It’s a Pantone of blondes; it goes from a honey to a caramel to Marilyn to a rose,” Duffy says. “He’s always one or two redheads in the collection, so we’ve made two.”

The makeup look by lead artist, Diane Kendal, was also an exaggerated version of a classic ‘60s look: matte skin and doe-eyed lashes. She first prepped the models’ skin with Cetaphil’s Gentle Cleansing Cloths, Daily Oil Free-Facial Moisturizer with SPF 35, and Hydrating Eye Gel-Cream so they were clean and moisturized for the shine-free base, which consisted of full-coverage matte foundation and loose powder. A contour underneath the cheekbones up to the temples followed, plus a highlight done with grease paint and white powder. The lips? Also matte. Taupe liner was used for definition and the same full-coverage foundation was tapped onto the center.

Black nail polish played an unexpected role in creating the chunky, exaggerated lashes, which served as the focal point of the look. “We prepped the [false] lashes – we’re actually doing top and bottom – with black nail polish to give them that really gunky, shiny, effect,” Kendal tells TZR. “We’re lining the [upper lash line] with black liner, doubling up the lashes, and we’re putting the Duo black lash glue on top. We’re not doing a line underneath, but again, the Duo black glue gives the effect of liner and we’re adding lashes [on the lower lash line]. She gave the brows definition by brushing them up, then adding a line a shade or two darker just above them, followed by brushing the natural hairs back down to blend it. “It gives the effect of definition without it looking too heavy,” Kendal says of the technique.

As the unofficial kickoff of New York Fashion Week, Jacobs’ beauty look is a sign there will be a flurry of dramatic runway beauty moments to come.