News Profile | Phoenix Renata
beautiful
game By Kate Pierson
Phoenix Renata led a keen team of makeup artists and models to create a memorable debut for her cometics business at this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week
is Phoenix Renata, founder of Phoenix House After meeting every red light of Makeup. in Christchurch, forgetting the memory manufacturer — the The pink fantasy trusty digital SLR — desperately Since 3500BC, during ancient Egyptian times, when the first archaeological evidence of trying (and failing) to disguise cosmetics was recorded, makeup has been a ‘check in’ quantity worth a sacred ritual. It survived the condemnation of luggage as ‘carry on’ with of the aristocracy who deemed its presence on a woman’s face improper and the criticism a strategically placed jacket, of following generations dominated by and a suspiciously long trip to uptight traditionalists. Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour courtesy of a driver with a very Today makeup is a worldwide commodity. Colour palates channelling the hues of every expensive sense of direction, season are spectacularly diverse, from fierce I arrived at New Zealand shades to the most subdued pastels. The method and style of its application a personal Fashion Weekend (NZFW) preference, makeup allows the wearer to be 2010 already out of breath. a chameleon and re-dress their visual identity That Saturday, September 25, the atmosphere was devoid of air kisses and the cooee of ‘daaahling’. The blink and you’ll miss them model types were virtually non-existent and the Anna Wintours, if they were there, were effortlessly discreet. Perhaps these stereotypes had gone home for the week, but it’s probably more likely they were only ever figments of my own imagination, entertained by too much consumption of the entertainment news channel. There were a hybrid of fashions; the style safe, fashionably edgy and borderline outrageous. Some outfits, on paper, wouldn’t have made any sense, yet for all their rule breaking and eclecticism, did in the flesh. It was visually delicious. There were the, ‘I’ve spent three hours getting ready and I want you to know it’ (preppy) types and the ‘I’ve spent three hours getting ready to achieve the I’ve just got out of bed look’ (grunge) types.
With makeup, emotion has an outlet. For some, it is a practicality; for others it’s a passion; for Phoenix Renata, it’s her profession. But just who is Phoenix — the creative energy behind Phoenix House of Makeup? “That’s an interesting question,” she says to me with a contemplative giggle, as we discuss her Saturday debut at fashion week. “I’m a very private person in my personal life, but in my work life I’m completely different. If I was going to sum myself up in one word it would be loyal. I really respect loyalty in people and I work really hard to recruit staff with that quality. My star sign is Scorpio and I think everything about that sign really sums me up.” For those, like me, who are slightly rusty on their knowledge of star signs other than their own, the Scorpio is highly curious, has a keen sense of intuition and a strong sense of direction — yep, that’s Phoenix through and through.
Long legs were made even longer with block colouring and trickery of the eye and impossibly short, short-shorts were made even shorter with legs teetering precariously on stacked platforms that defied gravity. Skin was a major accessory and there was leather scattered from head to toe; sparkles on the wrists, ears, necks and fingers; androgynous, masculine and feminine clothing silhouettes aplenty — and that was just the public fashion.
“Many people think that I’ve got wealthy parents who set up my business for me — they can’t believe I did it myself.
The fresh faces navigating the runway sold sex, sassiness and sexuality. There were some who fulfilled and others who refreshingly contradicted the models status of tall and slender and from the boudoir to the beach, the fashion was emotional. It was New York meets Paris meets New Zealand, with some South of the Border soul in the mix and I liked it — really liked it. Certainly, on my part, a lot of mental fashion filing went on and, admittedly, intentions to plagiarise those looks in future manifested in my subconscious — I’m only human.
Today Phoenix has two flagship boutiques in Auckland (Kingsland and Takapuna) which are dressed in 1930s inspired décor and her cosmetics are also stocked in two stores in Hamilton and Blenheim. Her product range, including matte and stick foundation, camouflage concealer, invisible powder, lip gloss, eye shimmer, waterproof mascara and pixie shimmer powder, is hypoallergenic and not tested on animals.
Aside from the fashion on and off the catwalk, I’d come to NZFW with a purpose and her name 12 | November/December 2010 www.aucklandtoday.net.nz
time and time again.
“I went to makeup school when I was 15 and then started a range of lipglosses, which I sold throughout New Zealand and at the local Aoetea Square Markets. I needed a small amount of capital before I could approach the banks. Over time, I developed and manufactured my range and in 2005, I opened my first store.”
“I’m so passionate about what I do and I’m so happy that I found my calling in life — I knew from the time I was 15 makeup is what I wanted to do,” she says.