Growing up, I hated everything about the ‘80s. This, of course, was just my natural rebellion against my parents, who had lived out their teens and early twenties during that decade. It wasn’t until I was a teen myself that I discovered (and, more importantly, appreciated) the magical musical genius of gems from that era, like Gary Numan, DEVO, Wham!, and Duran Duran. It was my fascination with the latter that really sparked my obsession with Patrick Nagel, thanks to Rio, the band’s cult-favorite album that features a woman on the cover that was drawn by the American artist. Because of Nagel's iconic portrayal of women—notably, their hair and makeup—I knew I wanted my beauty opener for the May issue to be directly inspired by his legendary body of work. I started by drawing out each individual look, and then makeup artist extraordinaire Allie Smith brought my vision to life with the help of awesome hair stylist Albert Vasquez and nail artist Marysol. Then, the insanely amazing stylist known as Michael Kozak kicked my vision up a notch by styling model Stefany Basso in modern interpretations of the ‘80s by designers like Moschino and Fausto Puglisi, while photographer Eric White snapped away. The end result? A color-blocked love letter to Nagel; signed, sealed, and delivered by yours truly. Click through the gallery to see all the looks!
The following feature appears in the April 2016 issue of NYLON.
Hair: Albert Vasquez at Bumble and bumble. Makeup: Allie Smith at Sarah Laird using Make Up For Ever. Manicurist: Marysol at Cloutier Remix using Dior Vernis. Stylist’s assistant: Lex Robinson. Model: Stefany at New York Models.