Lydia Mormen caught up with renowned session tech Marian Newman backstage at the Mary Katrantzou 10th anniversary show to talk SS19 trends

Nail News

Marian Newman for CND at Mary Katrantzou SS19

What was the inspiration behind the nails for Mary Katrantzou SS19?

Mary’s collection this season is called collectibles and it’s all about small things that you’d collect when you were a child, like seashells or pebbles or a little gemstone. For the nails, we’ve taken it that bit further as if the things you’ve collected are so precious that you can only view them under glass, so the nails are almost like Victorian glass domes.

What final looks did the team come up with?

One is a dome with Swarovski crystals inside that are loose so they move, another is a faceted glass nail inspired by a hat that one of the models is wearing. There are others with metal edges and then there are two flocked nails inspired by the soft inside of a jewellery case.

They were crafted from litres of gel – enough to cover a London black cab – and took 250 hours to make. The CND lab made them using a mould, which was so much work. This season, more than ever, things are going minimal. Everything is understated and very chic. We have gone so minimal that the nails are almost invisible because everything is glass. But they’re 3D and they’ve got texture to them.

PB editorial assistant Lydia Mormen with Newman

What’s the journey when you do nails for a show?

We get a mood board from the designer then have a conversation with them over the phone before creating some designs. The designer then gives their comments and we do an edit for them – the process can take up to two months. For this show, it took two weeks, but when we showed them to Mary the night before, she had changes.

Initially the nails had a Victoriana feel, but when I saw them in person I thought, “this isn’t right”, and that’s exactly what Mary said. The collection is far more modern, so we cut the nails and added the faceted glass designs last minute.

Where were the nails made?

The team started making them in New York and finished them over here with maybe four people working overnight, but that’s just this show. Some shows I can go and see the designer, come up with ideas while we’re talking and then have to create the nails the next day.

Does it help to know the designer you’re working with?

I’ve worked with Mary Katrantzou for years. It helps to know the designer because every one has different processes. It depends on the stylist too, and how they work. I’ve done nails for Mary for a lot of seasons but never anything too wild, so this is a big step up for her. Its lovely to have CND sponsor and I think she’s very happy with it all. PB