GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNA KONIECZNA
FASHION STYLING & MAKEUP: KALINA KOCEMBA
HAIR: PATRYK NADOLNY
MODEL: NORDI / EC MANAGEMENT
WORDS: EMILY ALGAR

At Prada’s Fall/Winter 2021 runway show, esteemed makeup artist Pat McGrath used not one but two high-shine metallic hues across the eyes. Of course, uniformity is considered the norm when it comes to eye makeup – but if the past 18 months have taught us one thing, it’s that “norm” is a term very much defined by the cultural parameters that surround it. What was once normal (hugs, handshakes, corporate office culture) is now strange, and what was once strange (masks, distance, holding meetings on Zoom) is now normal. Go figure.

McGrath’s work was also a fitting tribute to the kind of beauty we’re collectively craving; beauty that’s artistic, audacious, and just a little bit weird. Who wants clean lines and subdued palettes when you can have wacky shapes and lurid colours? It even works to fulfil certain childish fantasies. So many of us have been stuck indoors and within geographical boundaries for a long time now, and the idea of forfeiting jobs/apartments/responsibilities and running off to some far-flung destination is more alluring than ever. And few places fit this ideal more so than the circus. No time, no fixed place, no rules. Just colour and quirk and a road much less travelled. So take a hypothetical trip with us through the following pages, into a circus-makeup fantasy land that feels worlds away but also (hopefully) not too far off…