“Khaite has a very specific look—cool, easy, slightly tough, and very New York,” hairstylist Guido Palau tells Vogue backstage at the label’s spring 2025 show. “The fashion house takes inspiration from a ’90s kind of woman, and the beauty look for today reflects that period in NYC.” This woman could easily be plucked straight out of a Peter Lindbergh photograph and dropped right into 2024. She’s effortlessly striking but maintains a tasteful, enviable attention to detail without really trying too hard. The clothes are timeless essentials with a modern point of view—glam is not necessarily an afterthought, but it’s also not competing for attention.

To complement this collection, Palau created low ponytails by dousing hair with mousse for a just-showered appearance and then used his fingers to rake tresses into place—saying this technique adds “toughness” to the beauty. From there, a Khaite-designed gold hair cuff was secured at the base of the pony. “The easy, kind of casual hair is transformed by this piece into something really elevated and special,” he says. “A beautiful juxtaposition to the undone style. It adds a modern touch.”

Hair swept back allowed for full focus on the face, vision created by Diane Kendal and executed by NARS. “It’s very like raw skin, not super, super perfected or super covered,” NARS’s head of artistry, Niko Lopez, says. “You want to see the natural skin come through the makeup.” That said, it’s no surprise Khaite tapped Danucera—the brainchild of acclaimed aesthetician and founder of Rescue Spa Danuta Mieloch—to refresh models’ skin ahead of the runway. The brand’s hero, Cerabalm, was the most integral part of skin prep—serving as the ultimate multitasker. “It acts as a cleansing balm, moisturizer, and skin soother all in one,” Mieloch says. “Its rich, nourishing formula deeply hydrates and soothes the skin, making it perfect for both prepping the skin and giving it a luminous, healthy glow on the runway.” Clean skin made way for the D22 Tonic to tone and balance, the nutrient-rich Mega Serum eye cream, and a sweeping of the Cream Supreme Moisturizer—all massaged into skin with a sculpting facial massage to boost circulation and de-puff.

With complexions glowing, each model made their way to the makeup chair for a light touch of NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer to combat dark circles, followed by a Paul Klee–like application of After Glow Blush in shades of coral, pink, and burgundy to warm skin and a monochromatic dabbing of Explicit Lipstick in similar tones, dotted on with fingers and blurred along the edges for a just-bitten color. The effect was a natural flush that could easily be taken as no makeup at all, allowing the brows to make the true statement. Arches were etched boldly and darkly with a pencil for an editorial feel.