One of my greatest fashion moments was when I met makeup wizard PAT MCGRATH, whom I have been a fan of since the age of 12. She was in Dubai to launch the luxury make-up line she had created for Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian design duo with whom she had worked closely for the past 10 years.

I chatted with McGrath about the new makeup line which she developed with DOMENICO DOLCE and STEFANO GABBANA. Part of their inspiration for this new venture was a modern take on the glamour and sensuality of 1950s Hollywood. No surprise considering that as a child, Pat used to watch old films with her mother while commenting on the actresses’ costumes.

From an early age she was intensely aware of a lack of makeup options for women of color, so she began mixing her own formulas. The irony today is that she is now a major influence in an industry that once sidestepped women with darker toned skin. In addition to D&G she has also created a line of makeup for Georgio Armani, and is currently the creative director at Max Factor.

Her big break came in the early 90s when her close friend, the Vogue fashion director EDWARD ENNINFUL, collaborated with her on spectacular fashion shoots for i-D magazine, which brought them instant fame. At a time when fashion was emerging from grunge and a stip-down minimalism, McGrath and Enninful reintroduced inventive colors and bold baroque sensuality into fashion editorials.

Today, McGrath is arguably the most sought after makeup artist in the industry; often booked solidly during fashion week for runway shows, ad campaigns and editorials for the likes of STEVEN MIESEL and JOHN GALLIANO. McGrath has created some of her most memorable work for Galliano in particular (latex petals as eyelashes or vinyl lips anyone?) Each season before his show she will arrive at her suite at the Ritz in Paris with trunks filled with books, samples and inspirations which she uses to concoct the magical faces at each one of his shows.  A truly versatile artist she is equally adept at producing a natural pared-down look for Jil Sander, as she is at drenching models’ entire bodies in cobalt-blue powder before sending them down a runway at Galliano.

Written by Nia Beazer, www.dubaisitgirl.com