Luar Fall/Winter 2025 Beauty Look: A Complete Breakdown

Luar designer Raul Lopez has always explored the intersection of New York City and Dominican culture, with his designs reflecting elements of both. For his Fall/Winter 2025 show, Lopez added another layer: a celebration of unapologetic queerness. The hair was inspired by ‘80s underground club culture and hairsprayed to the heavens, but it was the nails that really stole the show: extravagant, impractical, long, and feathery, they were showgirl-extra in the best way possible.

Backstage at Luar, the show’s lead nail artist Naomi Yasuda told NYLON that she used a mix of black, white, and brown OPI polishes to achieve the dark base, then added clear crystals after the polish dried. To secure the gems, she applied a gel top coat, cured the nail, then repeated the steps with even more crystals for the ultimate shine. To finish, long black or white feathers were glued between the jewels and along the entire nail, flowing over the finger’s free edge. These were cured under an LED lamp to lock them in place. (“I tried to use glue, but they kept falling off,” she said.)

“When I do nails for Luar, I always think of nail art as a piece of accessory,” Yasuda said. “I wanted to do something that made a statement but still went with the collection.”

Lopez’s vision for the show was a reclamation of the word “pato,” which translates to duck in Spanish (hence the feathers), but is also used as a gay slur in many Latin American countries. To take ownership of the word, his show was an unabashed celebration of queer culture — hence, the ostentatious feathers and anything-but-low-key glam inspired by the energy of the NYC queer community and queer people everywhere.

The hair also took the same “more is more” approach. “We’re doing ‘80s, but the New York girl way,” lead hairstylist Jawara told NYLON. He used the Amplified Volume Plumping Mousse and Freeze Hold Hair Spray from TRESemmé’s A-List Collection to sculpt the model’s hair into a voluminous style he called the “fiery fan,” while others got a super-tight, sleek chignon.

On the makeup front, lead makeup artist Terry Barber used MAC Cosmetics to create a “late ‘80s supermodel meets DIY club drag” look featuring chalky-white eyeshadow with a black, hazy cut crease. Barber used MAC Eyeshadows in Gesso, Scene, and Print to achieve the drag-inspired cat-eye and Fox False Lashes to amplify the feathery effect.

Feather hair, feather eyes, feather nails — we’re sensing a theme (and suddenly getting the urge to run to the nearest craft store).