Backstage at the Nicole Miller Spring/Summer 2017 runway show, for the hair and makeup French beauty meets ’90s grunge, delivering messy eye-skimming bangs, sexy bedhead texture and beautifully smudged eyes. But the nails diverge from this narrative, taking their color-clashing directive from a different source altogether: Panama’s “Mola Maze” textiles.
“In Panama, there’s a textile called Mola that is made of line-art mazes; it’s really intricate,” explains Zoya Lead Manicurist Holly Falcone. Miller’s 40 looks heavily pull inspiration from these textiles, which are worn by the Kuna women of Panama and Columbia. To replicate this labyrinthine fabric on nails, Falcone crafts a negative space geometric design that begins with a base of Zoya Anchor Base Coat. Then, using a striping brush, she paints a cross in the middle of the nail using soft green Zoya in Ireland. She then outlines the cross with orange Zoya in Arizona. The idea, she says, is to continue tracing the cross until you reach the end of the nail, alternating colors. Of the clashing polish palette, Falcone explains, “Its orange and green and pops of color that exist in the collection.” —Kristyna Kane
Image credits: Kristyna Kane
Model poses backstage with Holly Falcone’s mola maze-inspired nail art.
A close up of the vibrant nail art for Nicole Miller.
