Profile of an Artist

Pat McGrath proves she's the world's most influential celebrity makeup artist when her recent look for the Maison Margiela runway show set the Internet ablaze.

- JOSEPH LOW

Delicate as porcelain dolls, and with a chilling, glassy beauty, the faces of the models at Maison Margiela’s Spring/Summer 2024 runway show in January had the world enthralled. A look never before seen, it set professionals and beauty enthusiasts alike in a frenzy. Thousands of Instagram posts boasting the #porcelaindollmakeup hashtag attempt to recreate the look; while on TikTok, beauty enthusiasts paint themselves shiny to garner millions of views. Products were sold out based simply on public speculation of their role in creating the high gloss lustre. The ‘glass skin’ look has also been sported by American rapper Cardi B on the cover of her latest single, ‘Enough (Miami)’.

It certainly is the viral make-up trend of the moment, but the woman behind it is no mere flash-in-the-pan sensation.

Fifty-four-year-old Pat McGrath—and that is Dame McGrath, since she became the first makeup artist to be bestowed the honour in 2020 by the late Queen Elizabeth II—is known by those in the industry as ‘Mother’ out of affection and reverence.

Through over 35 years of creating looks for runway shows of prestigious fashion houses, cover shoots, and the red carpet, the prolific artist has transformed a behind-the-scenes craft into a limelight-stealing artform. Cast your mind back to the feathered lashes that adorned models at Valentino’s Spring/ Summer 2019 Couture show; or the crystal-encrusted faces at Givenchy’s Spring/ Summer 2014 collection. Or musician Lil Nas X’s transformation into a silver cat, embellished with 5,000 stones and over 200,000 flatback crystals, at the Met Gala last year. Whatever the vibe, Pat McGrath will always surprise—and innovate.