Beauty looks at New York Fashion Week are typically pretty understated, but makeup artists turned tradition on its head this season, painting models’ faces with all manner of bright, bold colours.

Leading the charge was make-up artist Thomas de klyver who ‘wanted to bring a sense of playfulness to New York Fashion Week’. ‘I wanted to create looks that would make women feel empowered and to allow them to use make-up as an accessory [rather than something used to cover their natural beauty],’ says Kluyver. His rules for getting colour right? ‘It doesn’t matter what texture you use, cream, powder, kohl – what’s vital is that you wear tones that suit your complexion. Primary colours are rarely flattering, so opt for shades inbetween like a washed out blue, lime green, or a purple,’ he adds.

The main area of choice for colour? The eyes. Here’s all the beauty inspiration you need.

Carolina Herrera

Make-up artist Diane Kendal sent models down the runway with a midnight blue smoky eye, diffused with hints of silver. 

Anna Sui

Lead artist Pat McGrath created doll-like eyes by using bright pink shadow and a bold purple liner applied in the crease of the lid and below the lash line.

Sies Marjan

Thomas de Kluvyer had fun backstage at Marjan choosing to paint eyes with playful rings of colour. Teal, burnt orange, pinky-red and washed out green where just some of his colours of choice.

Jeremy Scott

Make-up artist Kabuki used Scott’s new Mac collection to create a futuristic nod to colour on the eyes. A touch of shadow in green, blue, or pink was used on the inner corners of and the look was finished with plastic eyeliner wings.

Jason Wu

Making coloured eyeliner wearable was the name of the game at Wu. Thomas de Kluvyer created a floating liner look where short strokes of grey-black liner were swiped above the crease of the lid, topped with bright yellow, pink or red and then balanced out with a faded wing. 

Images: REX Shuttterstock/Amerley Ollennu