Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

New York, Feb 12, 2001/ Fashion Wire Daily/ --- It's amazing the effort that goes into creating the look of a clean face. Too often, going for the natural look means layer upon layer of neutrals and a look of affected nonchalance. But when done artfully and with a light touch, as by Ashley Ward of M.A.C for the Fall 2001 Chaiken show, the look is one of effortless grace.

"We wanted a really fresh face," says Ward as she simultaneously makes up a model, gives an interview and adjusts to the glaring light of a video camera. "Lots and lots of skin, glowing, with a sort of smoldering eye." To achieve the look Ward eschews heavy-handed techniques and instead uses a translucent crème color in Root. The slightly brunette hue -- which was applied sparingly to the cheeks, as well -- provides a warm, deep color without looking bruised.

But the lips were really the thing. To match the sexy but playful tone of the show and coordinate with its color touchstone -- fuchsia -- Ward applied a fuchsia lip mix, which she then blotted and matted. While that splash of color is reminiscent of the just-bitten lips of several seasons past, the look for Chaiken was more uniform, much more sophisticated, and ultimately wearable. And, as Ward pointed out, "it brings it back to being a little bit playful."

The same attitude went for hair at the masterful hands of Peter Gray for Vidal Sassoon. "We started with a Mohawk inspiration," says Chaiken designer Jeff Mahshie. But luckily, no locks were shorn to create the sleek but voluminous look that ended up on the runways.

Gray pulled hair back in three different sections for a tight, almost aerodynamic ponytail. "It's really much easier to create a tight look with three sections," Gray advises. "A lot of times women try to copy what they've seen on the runway and just pull it all back, and it just doesn't work." His technique of pulling back separate sections avoids the dreaded bumps and adds an element of style to a standard do.

For the top section - this is where the Mohawk comes in - Gray slightly teased and twisted the hair for extra height. "It really elongates the face," he notes, adding that the Chaiken look is all about a long, g raceful line. "When we saw the heels these girls were wearing, we said we have to have height," he recalls, laughing at the absurdly high heels.

Then, going back to teasing out some extra height on the model at hand, Gray sums up the key to keeping one's sanity during Fashion Week, as well as a new millennium approach to hair: "It's got to be fun, after all."

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion

Chaiken Fashion