Pat McGrath Transformed Models Into Fantastical Flowers for Shayne Oliver’s Presentation at The Shed

For makeup artist Pat McGrath’s first collaboration with Shayne Oliver, the creative visionaries joined forces to make a dream of “human bouquets” come to life at The Shed’s Griffin Theater. Oliver, who captured the world’s attention as Hood By Air’s creative director, managed to reimagine the Fall 2022 show format for the debut of his namesake brand SHAYNEOLIVER. In New York’s Hudson Yards, Oliver’s creative studio Anonymous Club set up three nights of music, fashion, and art under the banner Headless: The Demonstration. 

“Shayne is an incredibly innovative and collaborative thinker,” McGrath tells Vogue of their shared creative process. “His references were a mix of nature, decay and decadence.” The pair sent images and videos back and forth while building out nine different makeup looks that ultimately tell a story of “birth and celebration.” To illustrate “organic opulence,” McGrath and team pulled materials ranging from silk flowers, feathers and crystals to crackling clay, glitter, and pearls out of her office archive. “Shayne loved the idea of pollen-drenched lashes, so the story really grew from the lashes,” she says of gazes that bloomed like floral fireworks. To let the details read as works of art, skin was finished with Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish Highlighter and Balm Duo and lips given a clear swipe of Lip Fetish Sheer Colour Balm—though some were ink-dipped in Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner.

Crowned with Holli Smith’s horn-shaped braids and textured wigs and tipped with Dawn Sterling’s green, stemlike nails, models’ faces resembled bleached-out or fiery fluorescent psychopsis orchids. Some looked like a breathing “rebellion of roses” in ghost-like petals with brushstrokes of clay that seemed to chip away. “The models show the birth of a fantastic floral journey, while others embody a glistening studded ornamentation that adorns and celebrates the individual,” says McGrath, who adds that their process developed into sculpture and painting rather than following familiar beauty codes. “They are all stand-out moments from subtle to subversive—much like Shayne’s collection.” Indeed, the crystal-drenched hoodies, extra-extra-long heels and oversized fur blazers appeared, as the team hoped, to be a “moving artistic expression” on the runway. And tonight, one can only expect even more movement as the team wraps its presentation with the third and final evening, entitled CLUB.