Gustavo Arango-Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2007

I was really excited to attend the Gustavo Arango show at the Altman Building Saturday afternoon, February 3rd, because I was invited backstage and one of my faves, AVEDA, was doing the hair and the makeup on this show. The backstage area at the Altman building is really spacious compared to the tents, and it was easy to spot and interview Rudy Miles, AVEDA Global Face Color Artist, and others from the Aveda Makeup Team.

Gustavo Arango designs glam clothes for glamorous women, especially Latina woman, so the look for this show was inspired by Hollywood glamour of the 1920's, but not quite as controlled or "done" (check out the model in the photo, below):

The makeup for this show was completely modern, dressed up, but, as Rudy Miles put it, "still whimsical." I called it diva with a slightly "dirty-girl" attitude. A polished, finished face and, like the strong eyes at Alice Roi and Alexander Herchcovitch, Rudy Miles made the focal point the eyes. He ringed them completely in a slightly metallic, deep, smoked blue called "Blue Bell." This color will be available from AVEDA for Fall, 2007. The deep, blue eye look really went well with the soft evening gowns and subdued colors for Fall from Gustavo Arango's collection. To finish the look, Rudy applied a lip liner all over the model's lips, first, and then applied a berry gloss that gave the lips what I like to call a "moistly-matte" look. It's matte, but not that old-fashioned dry that we are used to seeing with matte products. The cheeks were burgundy and berry, but applied in a new way: arched around the forehead and to the cheeks, instead of up from the apples. "It's all about color and technique," explained Rudy. And, as many other makeup artists have always advised me to pass on to you, my readers, this is only makeup. You can always remove it if you don't like the way it looks...so don't be afraid to experiment! Rudy Miles is shown below, holding some new "Petal Essence Accents" eye/blush trios for Fall, 2007 . Rudy said he used to be a teen model (and he's still not only photogenic, but very charming!).

I also spoke to Jon Reyman and his AVEDA hair team. Since the inspiration was the 1920's pin curls and finger waves that define that era's Hollywood glam style, the model's hair was set in pin curls and then loosely pinned in the back to produce a modern, Raphaelite-styled bob. This stunning look was romantic and youthful, but not too "set" in place. The models really did look angelic, walking down the runway. I don't have a list of all the products used but I will get it and add the details to my photo-essay feature, soon (check the Advice Sisters FEATURES page http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html in the coming weeks for all the latest Fashion Week and advicesisters content). ). I do know tow of the products used were Air Control, an environmentally-friendly hair spray, and Pure Abundance Hair Potion to add texture and volume to a model's hair if she needed it. Jon also explained that AVEDA was being much more selective in the number of shows they were doing this Fashion Week season. The reason? Aveda puts their proverbial money where there mouths are. They will only work with designers that are in sync with AVEDA's earth-friendly mission and philosophy: http://www.aveda.com/customerservice/ourmission.tmpl

The makeup artists and hair stylists are working on a short time frame on lots of models at the same time. They have to answer the same, endless questions over and over again. Even so, to a person, all of the backstage teams have been gracious and responsive to me as a writer and reporter. The AVEDA staff in particular were so nice to be around! They seemed to be enjoying their jobs, and their colleagues (special thanks to makeup artist TERRY whose husband was also backstage, on the "hair" team). I didn't interview the team from Pritti Organix Nail Salon, but they did the manicures.

Gustavo Arango came by to talk to Jon for a moment. I was too tongue-tied to introduce myself, but the designer, outwardly very calm, said he hadn't slept much the night before the show (I can just imagine!). He needn't have worried since the collection, although body conscious, was beautiful and quite wearable, even for non-models. Mr. Arango, born in Colombia and raised in Puerto Rico, studied in New York at F.I.T., subsequently working as a fashion designer for Pierre Balmain and then launching his own collection. An interesting but sad note is that the designer's apartment was destroyed during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th. He moved back to Puerto Rico. His collection now is inspired by the exotic beauty of Puerto Rico, and the urban chic of New York. The clothes moved with the body, especially the evening gowns in chiffon and silk charmeuse that were accented with beads in many cases. One I particularly liked was a slate silk charmeuse gown with lizard straps. Shoes were high, high, and higher, from Beverly Feldman and La Favorita. I don't know what the fashionistas will say about the collection, but my personal opinion is that Gustavo Arango designs to make every woman look beautiful, no matter what her age or features.

Check out my "how to do the look" with AVEDA products (coming soon on the advice sisters web site linked from our FEATURES page http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html