Jason Wu chose to show his ethereal fall '10 collection at the historic Waterfront building near Hudson River in Manhattan. Odile Gilbert, lead stylist for Aveda, told me she was inspired by the film The Piano to create the simple, beautiful bound buns for the show, which she achieved by parting the hair in the center, then pulling it into a low ponytail that she bound with small black elastics, and wrapping it into a small bun. "I'm leaving short pieces in front out for a natural look," she said. Gilbert's key products were Aveda's Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightener and the new Control Force hairspray, which will launch in June.
Meanwhile, key makeup artist Lucia Peroni for M.A.C said she wanted the models' faces to look like they were looking into a reflecting pool at night. To achieve this, she left the complexions natural, groomed the eyebrows and applied M.A.C Pro Metal Pigment in either Platinum or Gold and finished with a complementary shade of glitter for a luminous, elegant affect. To complete the look, CND lead nail tech Roxanne Valinoti applied a custom color of gray to the nails. "Jason wanted us to create his signature gray on the nails inspired by the color of his favorite couch," CND's Jan Arnold told me. The formula? One coat of CND Silver Chrome followed by two coats of Putty and finished with Super Matte Top Coat.
Jason Wu is one of several designer partners Aveda is working with during fashion week as part of their Aveda CatWalks for Water program, intended to inspire awareness and action regarding clean water issues. To participate, designers are required to replace bottled water backstage with New York City tap water provided by Aveda in EarthLust bottles featuring the autograph of each of its partnering designers, in addition to forgoing the use of fur, serving organic food backstage and printing all show materials on paper that is at least 20 percent post-consumer recycled. The program heralds Aveda’s 2010 Earth Month initiative taking place in April to raise $3.5 million to protect clean water.