Life & Style | Beauty & Fashion
The beauty is in the details
Dubai Fashion 2007 brought to the city not only the top couture labels in the world, but also many leading professionals from allied fields in the world of international fashion.
- By Jyoti Kalsi, Gulf News Report
- Published: 00:00 January 15, 2007
- One of the Creative nail technicians, Roxane Valinoti.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Dubai Fashion 2007 brought to the city not only the top couture labels in the world, but also many leading professionals from allied fields in the world of international fashion.
Among those involved in the backstage preparations for the four day fashion fiesta was Jan Nordstrom-Arnold, co-founder and style director of Creative Nail Design.
Her company does the nails for over 150 runway shows every year and she works closely with top designers to create customised nails for their collections at the major fashion weeks. Her team also does the nails for celebrities at red carpet events such as the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys.
"Our company has been doing the nails at Dubai Fashion since its inception. In its first year the event was low key but in its second year Dubai Fashion made global news and the city is now talked about as a leader in high style and setting trends. So I just had to be here to experience it," she said. "I am extremely impressed by the excellent facilities and organisation of the event," she added.
In a chat with tabloid! Jan spoke about latest nail trends, her celebrity clients and the attention to detail that goes into the making of a successful show.
What was your role during Dubai Fashion 2007?
My team came prepared with several ideas to suit each of the collections, ranging from long, pointed Swarovski crystal-studded nails and shorter, softer shapes embellished with lace or marbled patterns to plaids and bows on the nails. The day before each show I met the designers to understand the total look of their collection and develop the specific nail look they want. My team then got to work. They prepared a set of 18 nail tips for each model. Backstage, my team stuck the tips onto the models' fingernails and polished their toes.
Why do you take so much trouble over the nails when they are barely visible on the ramp?
When the models walk down the runway, what the audience sees is a total statement from head to toe. The shimmer of the nails, their length and shape are an important part of the whole look. To create the right impression, a designer must pay attention to every detail and I believe that the women who come to such shows do notice these details and use them to put their own look together. Ultimately, all fashion lovers will follow the trends we create for the runways.
How do you keep track of the trends and translate runway trends into nail designs?
We begin work two years ahead of the season. Initially we work with fabric houses to understand the weaves, textures, colours and top- and under tones. Closer to the season we work with the designers to see their interpretation. The length, shape and look of the nails are based on the hems, shoulders and silhouettes of the garments.
Spring:
The collections have layered, sheer fabrics in pastels with translucent undertones. To complement these we have nail colours such as cosmic coral, blue Nevada, which is great with jeans, a soft luminescent lilac called Milky Way, aqua green and pink chrome. Hems are shorter and necklines are higher, so the accent is on legs and perfectly polished toenails are important.
There is also a trend for a futuristic look which will see longer nails with a metallic silver or gold tip and Swarovski crystals on the nails.
Summer:
The little white dress is big. We have designed longer almond shaped white eyelet lace nails and marblising effects to go with the dress. Glittering gold nails will be big and we have experimented with crocodile prints with metallic chocolate brown on gold. Lavishly decorated feet will also be the trend in summer 2007. Red, fuchsia and gold are the main colours of the season.
Autumn/winter:
The attitude of the season is imperial anarchy or a London punk rock look with a regal touch. There is a lot of plaid with metallic undertones. Our palette for the season includes burgundy with bronze undertones, anthracite metallic, copper pearl, royal purple, metallic burgundy and fuchsia.
How it all began
Jan Arnold's father, Dr Nordstorm, was a dentist and an organic chemist and enjoyed creating dental products for his family in his lab in their garage. One of his patients, who was a nail technician, pointed out to him that the material he used for preparing a crown was similar to the polymer used for creating nail enhancements.
On her request Dr Nordstorm began experiments to create a polymer that would make nail enhancements stronger and impervious to discoloration by sunlight. The crosslinked polymer he developed was a success and thus was born Creative Nail Design. Twenty-seven years later, the company sells its nail enhancement and nail care products in 72 countries and has 500 educators worldwide.
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