Dreams of the Sublime

a’s fall collection explores the ephemeral beauty and magic that exists within the realm between slumber and awareness.

by Amy Dodds

The spell of time during which illusion becomes reality, spirits materialize and truth blurs with fantasy: This is the dreamlike space that Aveda Global Creative Director Antoinette Beenders sought to capture in Romantic Grandeur, the company’s autumn/winter 2014 limited edition hair and makeup collection. Ethereal women, donning timeworn couture and displaying haunting beauty, glide through the decaying chambers and corridors of a once-magnificent mansion.

"Romantic Grandeur invites you to step into that magical realm that exists between sleep and wakening,” Beenders says. “The idea was to blur the lines between fantasy and reality, and between the past and present.”

To that end, Beenders turned to a team of expert prop stylists and set designers to convert Manhattan’s unquestionably urban Pier 59 Studios into a grand, old-world estate that’s fallen on hard times. Additionally, Beenders eschewed digital photography in favor of a blurred analog technique to further enhance the sensation of yesteryear meeting the present day. Summarizes Beenders: “The hair, makeup, lighting and scenarios are all about re-creating that bittersweet feeling of a beautiful, nearly forgotten fairy tale.”

Ricardo Dinis, Aveda Artistic Director, Hair Cutting, designed the cuts to convey a feeling of eroded elegance with haunting appeal. Dinis started by creating a strong, cleanly defined shape and then softened it with fine, fluttery edges. Meanwhile, Allen Ruiz, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Styling, roughed up perfectly polished hairstyles with a well-placed curl, bend or spike. “The hair is slightly disheveled and unfinished—reminiscent of a vintage couture dress that’s delicate and starting to show signs of wear. Each look is a bit dreamy and old-fashioned.”
hese looks are glamorous or once were glamorous but are now stripped down to a raw and shattered place that’s quite beautiful,” adds Tippi Shorter, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Textured Hair. “For example for one look we created very strong waves in the interior of a cut but left the ends very soft and delicate.”

"Romantic Grandeur is about mixing the old with the new, which I think makes the haircolor fun and energetic yet still soft and wearable,” says Ian Michael Black, Aveda Artistic Director, Hair Color. “It’s very classic yet modern.”

“I was inspired by this idea of things becoming beautifully worn over time, [like how] paint can take on a different texture and tone as it chips,” explains Janell Geason, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Makeup. “So Romantic Grandeur makeup started with beautifully defined shapes, which we then smudged with our fingers or a brush to blur the lines and make it more soft focus.”

Flip through to see more images from the Romantic Grandeur collection.
[pagebreak]
gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] gebreak] rong>CREDITS
Hair: Antoinette Beenders, Global Creative Director; Ricardo Dinis, Artistic Director, Hair Cutting; Ian Michael Black, Artistic Director, Hair Color; Allen Ruiz, Artistic Director, Hair Styling; Tippi Shorter, Artistic Director, Textured Hair; Rie Hirabayashi, Aveda Editorial Artist, Hair Cut and Styling, New York; Jennifer Roskey, Aveda Purefessional, Hair Color, Cleveland
Makeup: Janell Geason, Artistic Director, Makeup; Nicole Wenz, Aveda Purefessional, Makeup, Denver
Photography: Jenny Hands
Wardrobe: Ann Shore
Designer: Christopher Larson