Rocking the fashion world

Oct 25 2007 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

Emma Johnson talks to a Liverpool make-up artist about her date with the A-list glitterati

IT WAS the biggest date in the fashion calendar. Thousands of A-listers and fashion fans flock- ed to London’s Royal Albert Hall last week for the return of Swarovski’s Fashion Rocks to the capital.

Designers including Armani, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Christopher Kane, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, Valentino, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent brought out their most stunning couture creations for this collaboration of style and song.

The red carpet was laid out, the Champagne corks were popping, and the crystals sparkling, while backstage a young lady from Southport was preparing for her big moment.

But Kyla Worthington is not a model. Her task for the event was much more demanding than walking the catwalk. Instead Kyla, 25, had the honour of joining the team of make-up artists responsible for creating the fabulous faces for the ultimate in catwalk shows.

Kyla, who works for Estee Lauder – the official cosmetic partner for Fashion Rocks – in Liverpool’s John Lewis store, was handpicked from make-up artists across the country to join the 30-strong team tasked with creating the stunning makeup looks for each artist and designer on the night.

For Kyla, who began working for Estee Lauder as soon as she left univer- sity four years ago, the event was the experience of a lifetime.

“It was fantastic,” says the blonde. “It was like nothing I had ever done before. It was really surreal to be there with all these celebrities and models.

“When I told people about it, I don’t think they realised what a big event it was, but afterwards my mum saw it on the television and couldn’t believe what a big deal it was.”

Kyla, who only found out she had been put forward as a make-up artist a month ago, was picked to work on the team for the Gucci fashion house, which, under the guidance of creative director Frida Giannini, showcased a selection of ultra-slinky, ultra-sexy silk women’s gowns at the event in aid of the Prince’s Trust.

After a 6am start and a long journey to London, Kyla was already hard at work at the Royal Albert Hall by 10.30am, despite the event not beginning until the evening.

“There was a head make-up artist there who took us through what we had to do and we each had three girls to make up. Gucci wanted a really ’50s- style look with dark eyes and red lips so we all had a magazine clipping to work from,” she explains.

“I was slightly nervous at first but I relaxed after a while. From midday, it was a constant stream of touch-ups as the girls got their hair done and tried on their costumes before the show act- ually got started at 8pm. The models looked amazing – they are all so tall and have the most fantastic skin.” Each designer at Fashion Rocks collaborated with a musician for their catwalk show with the likes of Lily Allen – for Chanel – and Marc Almond – for Yves Saint Laurent – among the performers. Guc- ci’s music came courtesy of hip Irish star Roisin Murphy (ex-Moloko).

Although she was hard at work for a lot of it, Kyla says she was lucky enough to see most of the show and she even bumped into a few of the fashion and showbiz royalty in attendance.

“From where we were working, we were looking down onto the stage so we got to see a lot of it.

“I thought the Gucci show was brilliant, I loved the black dresses and I thought the make-up really stood out with the red lips.

“I also saw Claudia Schiffer and Gwyneth Paltrow backstage – they are even more beautiful in real life and Giorgio Armani is very tanned!”

While the guests on the evening would have spent hours deliberating over their dresses – supermodel Kate Moss’s Swarovski-encrusted flapper dress reportedly cost £40,000 – Kyla had no such fashion worries.

“We actually had our black make-up artist uniforms on,” she says. “I was glad. I would never have known what to wear.”

emmajohnson@dailypost.co.uk

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