LFW with MAC Cosmetics: Makeup trends in the making at Dreaming Eli, Richard Quinn, Ashish and more...

This London Fashion Week, TheIndustry.beauty went backstage amongst the beautiful chaos with global beauty brand MAC Cosmetics. As models went from fittings to beauty chairs to get ready for the runway, we took a sneak peek into the looks their renowned makeup artists put together for Dreaming Eli, Ashish, Fashion East, Annie's Ibiza and Richard Quinn.

From red smokey eyes inspired by post-breakup club nights at Dreaming Eli to vampy lips and glowy skin at Annie's Ibiza's Renaissance-inspired runway, here's a close-up look at the beauty creations MAC's Global Makeup Artists conjured up for the autumn/winter 2025 season.

Dreaming Eli's makeup look was for the heartbroken clubgoers

London-based Italian designer Elisa Trombatore founded the womenswear brand Dreaming Eli in 2021 after graduating from Central Saint Martins. For AW25, her collection ‘Between My Heart and Ribs’ is the product of Tombatore looking inwards. Each stitch was inspired by poet Warsan Shire, who wrote: "You can’t make a home out of human beings; someone should have already told you that". With these words in mind, the designer explored the intricate layers of flesh, bone and emotion and translated this into a collection of gothic galore.

Carly Utting, Senior Artist at MAC Cosmetics who has been working behind the scenes at LFW for 20 years, used this inspiration to create looks reminiscent of a heartbroken clubgoer of the 1990s. Backstage at a church in Clerkenwell, Utting told TheIndustry.beauty: "Imagine you have just split up with someone and you have made such a beautiful effort to do such gorgeous makeup, and it is just all unravelled."

As for the looks, the makeup artist went for either black or bright red smokey eyes, accompanied by lit-from-within skin and big, pouty lips.

"It’s not an Instagram-perfect look; it’s like you’ve had it on for six hours. It's a combination of Alexa Chung in the 90s post-Glastonbury and a Shirley Manson chunky, thick lash. Eli was really specific and wanted really big, pouty lips. But we blurred them with the grey nude and raspberry red," Utting added.

"As for the skin, the Strobe Dewy Skin Tint is the most underrated product we use backstage... It looks light, natural and glossy and nothing artificial."

Richard Quinn's wintery wonderland inspired pearlescent and perfected makeup

British designer Richard Quinn created a winter wonderland and brought back Dior’s ‘new look’ silhouette almost 80 years later at autumn/winter 2025 London Fashion Week. As snow fell from the ceiling, classical strings began to play and sumptuous silks, pouffes and ruffles began to spill out onto the runway.

Quinn's collection inspired Terry Barber, Global Creative Director of Artistry MAC, to create a "soft 60s vibe, referencing Jean Shrimpton, Julie Christie and Diana Ross in Mahogany".

As for the skin, Barber added "a whisper of contour" and a "sort of white pearl on all skin tones". He added lots of mascara with an iridescent high cheekbone.

"We’re then finding a nude lip that’s suitable to their skin colour, almost a putty beige. It’s classic, effortless, timeless. It’s just beauty, no tricky graphics. We want perfected skin, going old school and using Studio Fix Fluid. I’m feeling the coverage at the moment, I don’t know if anyone else is but I am," said Barber.

Fashion East updated the 'clean girl' makeup to 'just woken up girl' makeup

Fashion East’s design incubator is still going strong after 25 years. This season, Loutre, Nuba and Olly Shinder presented their autumn/winter 2025 collections, with MAC Cosmetics and its Lead Makeup Artist Romero Jennings, conjuring up a different look for each designer's showcase.

Olly Shinder subverted associations of utilitarian garments by reinterpreting military wear. The recontextualisation of camouflage netting was a key focus, with army-issue thermals also recreated in fine cotton yarn to produce semi-sheer, ribbed stretch sweaters and tank tops. To complement Shinder's collection, Jennings 'embraced perfection', creating a clean, just-put-together makeup look.

German designer Olympia Schiele's Label Louthre collaborated with Polish visual artist Helena Minginowicz this season. Her practice contrasts traditional canvases with disposable materials, questioning notions of value and beauty in a consumer-driven world. This inspired Jennings to create 'sweaty athletic skin' for Loutre.

Nuba is led by co-creative directors Cameron Williams and Jebi Labembika. The collection shares a material exploration of functionality, environment and desire. For this, Jennings made models look like they were "waking up from a deep sleep" - think dewy, clean skin and matte brown eyes.

Annie's Ibiza said renaissance skin is in and pale lips are out

For this year’s London Fashion Week, Annie Doble, Annie's Ibiza's Creative Director and founder, was inspired by the Renaissance period of 15th-century Italy, a time of artistic innovation and strength. The collection channelled the feminine strength of Joan of Arc, Catharine Sforza and the enduring grace of women throughout history.

In keeping with the collection, the fashion brand brought "renaissance skin" to the runway at London Fashion Week, kicking off a new trend that leaves "glass skin" in 2024. With Argentum on the skin and MAC Cosmetics on the makeup, this dream team created a look that may mean we see softer eye looks, less bronzer and more blush in 2025.

Argentum skin expert Vera Araujo said they wanted to bring healthy skin to the runway; skin with "colour, life and health".

Lead Makeup Artist Dominic Skinner added: "The idea for the makeup comes from looking at Renaissance Art. We're taking it from the viewpoint of a female-led religious belief; we're looking at figures such as Joan of Arc. These women are powerful, they are strong, they are in control, and they are warriors.

"There is an element of fashion going on with the flushed cheek and then power is coming through with the real strong blood-red lip. We're giving that blessed look with the eyes, giving it a subtle line of gold, you can't really see it, it kind of blends into the skin tone but it just creates this extra glint in the eye that looks like you've been shone down on."

Ashish's potent pallette-inspired post-party makeup looks

Ashish has never been one to shy away from a statement and this season was no different. As models of all ages and sizes made their way down the balloon and confetti-filled runway, they wore statement slogans and vibrant patchwork dresses, which read politically-driven messages such as "fashion not fascism" and "not in the mood".

In addition to creating the look for Richard Quinn on Saturday, Terry Barber also used his creative genius to form the makeup looks for Ashish on Monday. In keeping with the theme, he created a post-party look for the runway.

"There is an element of fashion going on with the flushed cheek and then power is coming through with the real strong blood-red lip. We're giving that blessed look with the eyes, giving it a subtle line of gold, you canit 't really see it, it kind of blends into the skin tone but it just creates this extra glint in the eye that looks like you've been shone down on," said Barber.

"The makeup for Ashish is about making all the models look like it's the next morning after they've been out the night before. It's these party glitters around their eye, made to look like they've danced and sweated and got a little bit tipsy.

"The lip looks like they've been kissing a lot or as we'd say in the UK, snogged, and is blurred around the edge."