Wearable Makeup with Demi International
It takes a village of creative artisans to bring a wearable art piece to life. Carlie Wacker gets up close and personal with the talented faces behind the face and body makeup art at the Australian Wearable Art Festival 2023.
The wearable art on display at the Australian Wearable Art Festival is nothing short of breathtaking and every year gets better and bolder and braver. The art worn by the talented models requires a very special application of makeup to ready it for the runway.
I went behind-the-scenes at the 2023 Australian Wearable Art Festival (AWAF) to find out more about the makeup and the magicians behind it.
Official Hair & Makeup Director for the AWAF 2023 this year was Franchesca Blandon. Originally from San José, Costa Rica she is an award-winning hair, makeup and body artist. I asked Fran what the process was when considering the right look for each amazing artwork.
As this event’s focus is obviously the wearable art, we gave the artists the option to send through special requests on hair and makeup that they considered could compliment their entries,” she says. “However, some felt comfortable leaving that decision to me. I took into consideration the colour palette, styles and materials used on each category.”
She nailed the looks but with a show this big Fran doesn’t work alone.
“This year I was so excited to have a very talented team of twelve hair and makeup artists,” Fran shares. “Some qualified, others emerging or currently getting their diplomas at The Australian Academy of Cinematographic Makeup (AACM) in Brisbane and more locally, Demi International.
“My team is very versatile, so I assigned the looks to everyone based on their experience, skills and strengths plus I took over some of the more complex looks that required intricate airbrushing myself whilst directing and supervising the teamwork.”
The end result was a seamless blend of creativity – from the wearable art to the hair, makeup and choreography. Kudos goes to AWAF Directors Wendy Roe and Helen Perry whose vision has created the space for others to create.
The hair and makeup team at the Australian Wearable Art Festival should take a bow – they are such an important part of the final product.
