Fan favorite Catherine Malandrino paired up with new polish brand Morgan Taylor Nail Lacquer for her Fall 2013 collection. Proving that everything at New York Fashion Week is special, Morgan Taylor created a small batch of a nail polish color made just for the show. Lead nail technician Michelle Class created a neutral nail shade that blended easily into all skin tones, by combining three different lacquers from the Morgan Taylor collection: two parts It’s in the Nude, one part Birthday Suit and a drop of Polished Up.
Malandrino debuted a texture-rich, geometric-laden collection that featured clean silhouettes and intricate patterned embroidery. She drew from Art Deco’s “clean” but “abstract” aesthetic. Malandrino mixed velvet, satin and leather to give the look a distinctly “urban edge.” The show was done in presentation style, but unlike the models at Lincoln Center’s “Box” venue, who moved into a variety of poses, Malandrino’s girls stood nearly motionless like stoic statues. I was surprised that only a few would momentarily break their pose to give me a chance to photograph them featuring the nails. Standing at attention like that without proper military training can result in the unintended consequence of fainting. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened to several of the models in the show. I would have loved to have seen the girls change their poses every few minutes so that you could view the pieces from a totally different view, particularly because of the interesting textile and cut out work that defined the collection. My favorite look was an illusion top with a slight peplum and matching leggings. The top layer had an intricate repeating pattern in velvet with cutouts that revealed a nude base. The fit of the nude base was so perfect that upon first glance you might think that the model was ONLY wearing the black velvet overlay. Creating a look like this that’s tasteful, and not crass, is a tall order, but Malandrino succeeded where so many others had previously failed and made this effect look elegant.
In addition to the Catherine Malandrino show, Morgan Taylor also did the nails at the Victoria by Victoria Beckham show as well as Betsey Johnson. I was thrilled to cover backstage for them at the shows. At Victoria’s show they wanted a very clean fresh look. So the nails were left in nude and clipped short. To get the look, Class applied Need for Speed Top Coat, commenting that the nude nail trend “is definitely something that will be sticking around for a while.” On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, at Betsy Johnson’s show Class painted nails with Morgan Taylor Little Black Dress, giving each nail a different letter in white: B, J, K and A for “Betsey Johnson Kicks Ass” which was emblazoned everywhere in the show from the runway to the clothes. For black outfits, the models’ nails were done in All White Now, to give an extra pop of contrast. It was amazing to see the variety of looks created by a single company. From classic to chic to cute, Morgan Taylor did it all!