Harris Reed has officially made a case for statement eyeshadow looks, debuting a selection of icy nineties-style blue lids and thick, bold lashes for London Fashion Week SS25. The show, which took place at the Tate Modern on Thursday evening, saw models adorned in structural corseted garments, architectural hips and up cycled, theatrical designs take to the this season’s runway for the ultimate display of dramatic demi-couture. Scene-stealing beauty was everywhere to be seen.
‘For this iconic show, we wanted to create a make-up look that spoke to the 19th century French silhouettes that Harris was inspired by for this season, while using bright colours and opulent textures that would help embody that otherworldly fantasy Harris creates with his extraordinary pieces,’ says key make-up artist, Sofia Tilbury.
‘Inspired by Harris’ Demi Couture world, the heart of the look is captured in the wide-eyed blue and orange eyes and doll-like lips and skin. To create the fresh-faced complexion, we drenched the skin in Charlotte’s Magic Water Cream, which serves as a great base for her complexion hero, Beautiful Skin Foundation. We then used the Beauty Light Wand in Spotlight to highlight the cheekbones and Airbrush Flawless Finish powder to mattify where needed.’
For the star of the show, the pinched, fluttery lashes, Tilbury used the new Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara (a tubing formula), to contrast against the striking sky blue and copper tones used across the lids; these were a preview of future Charlotte Tilbury palettes to come.
‘In contrast to the eyes, we wanted to use muted tones for the lips to complement the doll-like aesthetic,’ says Tilbury. ‘We exaggerated the cupid’s bow and middle of the lower lip using Charlotte’s Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk Deep, Foxy Brown or Iconic Nude before bathing the centre of the lips with Collagen Lip Bath in Refresh Rose for a glazed finish.’
Blue eyeshadow has been making a comeback this season, after a string of successful trends following AW24 earlier this year. Think frosted lids, smoky denim eyeshadows, electric graphic liners and playful teal placements. SS24 has only followed suit, with shows from Christian Cowan to Ulla Johnson marking the cool-toned look’s intention to stay for the upcoming spring/summer season. Harris Reed serves just one example of the ways to wear the look this season.
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Katie Withington (she/her) is the Beauty Assistant, at ELLE UK and Harper’s Bazaar. Working alongside the ELLE UK Beauty Team, she covers all things beauty for both print and digital, from finding backstage make-up trends at London Fashion Week and investigating buzzy skincare ingredients, to unzipping the beauty bags of Julia Garner and Emily Ratajkowski. Prior to joining ELLE UK in 2022, Katie studied (BA) Fashion Journalism at London College of Fashion and has previously contributed to Red, Good Housekeeping and Prima.
