Freckles, bare faces and diversity on the catwalk: how the beauty industry is finding strength in difference

At London Fashion Week in February, there was one major beauty topic on everyone’s lips: skin. From Winnie Harlow — the trailblazing model with vitiligo — walking at Matty Bovan and the first catwalk appearance of hijab-wearing Halima Aden at Alberta Ferretti, to casting director James Scully’s scathing exposé of the industry’s outdated attitude towards skin colour, it felt as though the fashion and beauty worlds were finally waking up to reality. ‘Models aren’t a blank page to be painted as desired any more,’ says Daniel Robson, an agent at Premier Model Management. ‘They’re bringing a lot of themselves to projects: personality, style quirks and being comfortable in their own skin.’

This new-found focus on the authenticity of skin has come in part from social media, where the likes of Adwoa Aboah and Leomie Anderson have spoken out repeatedly on attitudes within the fashion industry. But it wasn’t just happening on the catwalks and FROW. Backstage, make-up artists were embracing this new mood, too. Full beauty looks of lipstick and eyeshadow were firmly out, and freckles, pigmentation and flushed cheeks were in. At Emilia Wickstead, Simone Rocha and J W Anderson, the bare-faced models were as much a part of the post-show buzz as the clothes, with MAC’s head of make-up artistry, Terry Barber, coining the term ‘rawgeous’ to describe his bare-faced girls at Lutz Huelle.

So how did they do it? Many artists spoke of a lighter touch when it came to the foundation brush, aiming to showcase skin underneath rather than masking with heavy layers of make-up. The result was a broad spectrum of skin types on show, from pale Asian skin and pink tones inspired by Vermeer paintings to Alek Wek’s opal black at Haider Ackermann.

And where the catwalks lead, the high street swiftly follows. This year will — finally — see the launch of a plethora of foundation lines from the big beauty players such as L’Oréal Paris and Estée Lauder, each with an extended offering of shades and tonal varieties — specifically shades with more yellow or pink pigment.

It seems that loving and making the most of the skin you’re in has never been so on trend. Let’s hope it stays that way.