Halloween was a month ago, but here at PAPER, we believe serving is evergreen. For a designer like Yannik Zamboni who's used to turning a look any day of the year, what do even you wear to an occasion like Heidi Klum's annual Halloween party? The answer, of course, is simply a giant hairy beast of unbelievable proportions worthy of a fashion editorial. The look is so wild, so fun and so high fashion, that we had to know more — even as we enter the holiday season.
Before Zamboni could even worry about getting themself ready, they got a last-minute request from Klum to create her after party look: an intricate fringe cerulean floor-length gown complete with a towering headpiece to match her realistic peacock makeup. Luckily, the Swiss designer behind eponymous label Maison Blanche and recent winner of Amazon's fashion design competition series “Making the Cut” is used to unusual challenges. So after two sleepless days getting the job done, Zamboni finished on Halloween morning at 6 AM, went to their hotel, napped two hours and rushed to get ready with their team.
Zamboni's glam team, Nina Carelli and her assistant, started with airbrushing their entire body, followed by their face. The hardest part, Zamboni explains, was to get the hand-painted sclera contact lenses from Veiled Optics into their eyes. After four hours of makeup, they continued to install the hairy headpiece — a massive crescent draped in white human hair — made by past collaborator Charlie Le Mindu, who’s worked with the likes of Michèle Lamy, Naomi Campbell and Lady Gaga. Finally, after seven hours total spent in hair and makeup, Zamboni got dressed in head to toe human hair to match the headpiece and strapped on a pair of seven-inch platform heels. The heels, 19-inch headpiece and Zamboni's already tall stature resulted in an 8’3" beast.
Sometimes, for better or worse, fashion is truly pain. At the party with bestie Aaron Kohler in a similar look, Zamboni basically couldn't see anything. The sclera lenses made their vision dark red and the hair from the head piece covered their eyes. Using stairs or the toilet? Impossible. But Zamboni says that the reaction from everyone — people on the street, the Uber driver, partygoers and Miss Klum herself — made the struggle worth it. "I felt so good in the look," Zamboni tells PAPER. "I completely forgot that I barely slept for days, and we enjoyed the party until early morning."
Zamboni thinks preparing a look for Halloween is kind of like preparing to get dressed for anything else in life, although the former might be a bit more involved. "Whether for a wedding, for work, a job interview or just to chill out, fashion has the power to inspire, move and communicate, " Zamboni says. "Why not make an impression on a daily basis?"
Photography: Max Tardio
Photography assistant: Art Davison
Hair: Charlie Le Mindu
Makeup: Nina Carelli
Makeup assistant: Travis Spinks
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