Manish Arora’s Modern Aura

If Roy Lichtenstein indulged in drugs of the psychedelic variety, his pop paintings may have looked something like Manish Arora’s technicolor Fall 2010. A fusion of Art Deco design and 80’s-tinged futurism, the collection’s crystal-beaded dresses and abstracted cityscape prints were decidedly made for modern mania. But it was the day-glo cropped wigs and neon Mac makeup that truly transformed the models into glammed-out comic book superheroes. Fixed with deliberately stern expressions, models’ white-powdered faces were brightened with sherbet or fuchsia lips, electric blue, pink or green eyebrows and a rainbow of fluorescent lids. Most of the girls were crowned with jagged, asymmetrical blue or yellow bangs, but a select few wore shocking sapphire or tangerine crystallized helmets, which were sculpted into sweeping, bobs. And as if we weren’t already flying high by the show’s finale, the last three looks featured black earmuffs embellished with a bouquet of foot-long LED lights that spun and swirled at the end of the runway. Sure, some editors felt the show induced a multicolored overdose, but there’s certainly room in what has, thus far, been a relatively sober Fall 2010, for Aurora’s stimulating approach to beauty.