Fashion shows are already regimented and chaotic, but what happens when the fashion show ends up at Disneyland? Complete insanity? Turns out the well-oiled Disney machine makes the experience a smooth and organised show, and because childlike wonder comes into play, you have a hell of a good time.
Opening Ceremony hosted its Spring 2018 fashion show, which was inspired by the '60s and '70s, at Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland, allowing attendees to take over the park after hours for what it deemed "The Happiest Show on Earth." We're sure many of you are wondering why, as did we. Turns out, in addition to showcasing their own collection, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim collaborated with Disney on a second collection inspired by Mickey himself. The Mickey True Original collection includes the iconic Disney star printed on tees, silk dresses, denim jackets, sweaters, and windbreakers.
The collaboration makes sense for the designers, who both grew up in California — Humberto even sported a Mickey Mouse tie and cummerbund to his prom. Disney has some of the most loyal, die-hard fans, and the House of Mouse brought out a variety of celebrities for the show, including Chance the Rapper, who was spotted at the park earlier in the day with his family, Diplo, Laverne Cox, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Holt, Jamie Chung, and even Donald Duck.
Click through to see the homages to Disney within the beauty looks, read the inspiration for the hair, nails, and makeup, and see a few exclusive videos from the runway show.
Wall of Models
Laying out the diverse models that would walk in the show.
Nail Inspiration
Clearly, Mickey was the sole inspiration for the show. China Glaze's head nail artist, Naomi Yasuda [1], were two styles: the black and white nails were worn for the first show, paying a discreet homage to Disney. For the second "Mickey True Original" show, five of the 41 models walked down the runway with the brighter color palette, including multi-colored Mickey nails.
The Application
Naomi fit each nail to the model herself and applied using an easy-to-remove appliqu.
One Hand Down!
The Black and White Manicure
The Makeup
Headed by Thomas De Kluyver [2] for Maybelline, the makeup ranged from subdued to dramatic, but included a few key characteristics to tie it all together. Thomas expressed that he wanted the makeup to look like it belonged on someone who would walked into an Opening Ceremony store, and was inspired by OC's raver vibe.
The Hair
Holli Smith [3], lead artist for Bumble & bumble, wanted to keep the look fresh and a little grungy, but still embodied the Disney spirit. "The way I'm elevating it is I'm trying to make it look more natural, in a way a girl that did it herself," Holli told us.
To avoid making the ears look too sweet or cutesy, the texture and the height was important. "This is kind of a little bit gothic, in a way. There's a hardness to it. I've teased out the ends, and there's this really strong direction. There's a toughness too it — it's not sweet or saggy. There's effort put into it."
For those with slippery hair, surf spray [4] ($27) and thickening spray [5] ($30) was worked in to add more texture. For the ears, they were placed about an inch from the part to keep them feeling more gothic than "candy raver," per Holli. "When you move it higher, it's tougher."
The Setup
Seats were adorned with a program and a Mousekeeter hat.
The Happiest Show on Earth
Models exited out of Mickey's house in Towntown for the show.