Beauty at Schiaparelli’s couture shows have long been a spectacle. From naked manicures tipping off gold fingers and the “chandelier face” coined by Pat McGrath, to star-studded front row guests, the French house has had a hand in some of the most shocking beauty trends we’ve ever seen. However, this season, the beauty look was a thing of the past—literally.
At their Autumn/Winter 2025 show, makeup artist Pat McGrath painted on black lipstick (but, instead of a proper lipstick like MAC’s Macximal Silky Matte Lipstick in “Caviar,” she brilliantly misused her black eye pencil to fill the lips) as the collection’s key makeup look. “Daniel’s Fall Winter Haute Couture 2025-26 show was a study of black and white photography throughout history,” McGrath said in a press release. “We paired beautiful, luminous skin with bold, powerful lips.” However, the age-old lipstick color, arguably more powerful than red (which was also featured in the show using the Pat McGrath Labs Legendary Lip Liner in “Elson”), has a long history on the lips of Black women—and for good reason.
In the 1980s, Iman frequently rocked very dark brown lip looks. Lil’ Kim, at Cartier’s 75th Trinity Ring anniversary, matched her black lipstick with her pedicure. And, over the weekend, Lauryn Hill performed in a sumptuous late night lip look at ESSENCE Festival. While some skated on the brink of black, like rich berry and deep chocolate, others leaned all the way into the Schiaparelli-endorsed tone. “It was all about time travel—going back into the past while feeling futuristic at the same time,” she says.
Black lipstick is often paired with a statement eyeshadow just as loud, but this time, McGrath preferred something more quiet. Grace Jones in 1980s France, for example, wore a matte black lipstick shade in a portrait series which was almost identical to the lip seen on Adut Akech this season. Whether lacquered with clear gloss or left matte like Jones’s, their lips were strong enough to stand out in any photograph, meanwhile Akech’s eyes, layered in just mascara, made the look more minimal.
With beauty trends often cyclical, bringing the past back to the future is how a beauty look, like black lipstick or red nails, becomes a classic. And, even more often, Black women have endorsed couture-approved trends ages before they’re spotted on fashion’s million-dollar catwalks. While everyone appears to have black lipstick in colorless photos, this season’s Schiaparelli show was a reminder of just how couture our glamour has been (and will remain for years to come).
