There seemed to be a sort of black magic floating around at Rodarte’s show Tuesday afternoon. Backstage was a mix of gothic lips, cobweb hair nets and dark polish. Perhaps most intriguing were the tribal tattoos that adorned each model. I initially assumed that Sharpie had taken their sponsorship of Fashion Week to the extreme and that they had been drawn with a permanent marker. Luckily, I was (as I so often am) mistaken – the marks were applied with paint.

The hand-painted tribal tattoos were the creation of a collaboration between Senior M∙A∙C Artist Chantel Miller and M∙A∙C key makeup artist James Kaliardos. The concepts (4 different full-sleeve, 1 neck and 8 half-sleeve designs) took 4 weeks to develop. Application for the show took 4 hours and was completed by a team of 40 artists. Adding to the complexity, each model’s design was customized depending on the look that they were wearing down the runway.

“The idea for the tattoos stemmed from Kate and Laura [Mulleavy]’s desire to celebrate makeup as art not only for the face, but also for the body in a similar way that Indian culture uses henna. They want women to look at makeup as an accessory for an outfit the way you would a bracelet or a necklace,” said Chantel Miller.

I can appreciate the concept, as well as the painstaking work that went into carefully completing it. However, when it comes to painting my own skin, I think it’s probably best if I’m limited to basic eyeliner.

For more behind the scenes images see New York Fashion Week: Backstage by Ashley Simko

Check out the video below to get an exclusive behind the scenes look at CFDA winner Rodarte.

PHOTO CREDIT: M.A.C. Cosmetics