On Wednesday, as Fashion Week wrapped up, Michelle Smith’s Milly SS2014 models glowed with bright faces nourished by Joanna Vargas’s all-natural, vitamin-infused skincare treatments. Vargas used her best-selling Daily Serum, which contains oxygenating Chlorophyll, layered with Daily Hydrating Cream made with Oat Amino Protein to build collagen, and her Rejuvenating Serum to add luscious luminosity to every face.
With temps running high the final day, the energizing, antioxidant-packed Vargas trio laid the backdrop for Kevyn Aucoin’s stylists, presented by Beauty.com and led by Romy Soleimani. Romy used Aucoin’s Sensual Skin Tinted Balm for an extra layer of protection. Eye lids, lashes and brows were heightened with Kevyn Aucoin The Eye Shadow Single #105, Kevin Aucoin The Mascara, and Kevin Aucoin The Precision Brow Pencil, which provided a light, feminine frame. Lips were treated with Kevin Aucoin The Sensual Lip Balm and Kevin Aucoin The Flesh Tone Lip Pencil, in Cerise. The look was classic cherry-stained, spring chic, making way for the energy of the new Milly line.
In the photo, model Anna Martynola is transformed by Christina Kay for Beauty.com, using Kevyn Aucoin. The lip liner is Cerise and the blush is Fiera.
Now let’s talk about the clothes. The coming Milly SS2014 collection, designed by Michelle Smith, catches the eye with brilliant contrasts. Inky and day-glow colors pervade satiny fabrics, while starchy bright white and goth black galvanize stiff, netted fabric and shapes that play neatly over petite tanks and simple fluorescent band-aid tops.
The designs run from sporty and relaxed cover-ups to tailored pencil skirts and form-fitting dresses. The energy of the fabrics is beguiling. Michelle Smith was happy revealing “almost the entire collection is Italian fabrics. I traveled all over Italy,” later adding “the beauty is in the cut and the femininity.”
Each item has ways of leaving out some fabric, and going for exposure, whether it’s broad bare shoulders emerging from a zip-front dress, done in a sea of acid-blue with an almost fractal-like design that mingles the feminine with the dominant. Or, the way a cropped top reveals itself from under a structured mesh pullover.
Milly’s shoes also provide cut-out appeal. Swathing the ankle in black knit, for a gesture of booty, the rest of the signature shoe embraces the metatarsals with a delicate black strap. Nothing could be more simple or more right on a spring night.
Photos by Susan Gluck
