Let go of its association with hideous bridesmaid dresses and ’80s interiors – the time is ripe for the harvesting of a new era for peach.
It’s been a tumultuous ride for peaches in pop culture, from emoji beginnings of gluteal grandeur to becoming a key interior design trend for 2022, to the 250 million views of “peach desserts” trending on TikTok – not to mention their role in contemporary cinema, as poisonous in Parasite to Call Me by Your Name, where they – well, you’ve seen it.
In fashion and beauty, peach has left behind its rotten past – the SS22 runways are encouraging you to seek out sweetness, in Rodarte’s flowing blush silk dress adorned in fungi to sunset prints at Isabel Marant and the pastel peach palm trees that spotlighted soft washes of peach on the eyes at Adeam. Peaches and cream skin came in vibrant blush at Etro, Christian Cowan and Anna Sui; fresh soft coral rimmed eyes at DROMe and Rodarte; and monochrome peach shimmered on eyes, lips and cheeks and Dolce & Gabbana.
In beauty launches, Tom Ford’s overripe, sexy Bitter Peach perfume has bloomed into a full- flavoured collection of lipstick, eyeshadow palette, candle and body spray; and just about everyone has released a peachy cream blush, which when blended with fingertips melts into the skin to inject a sun-scorched warmth into all skin tones, no matter how long you’ve been housebound.
“ The desired effect is not to look blushy; more to look exceedingly fresh and polished,” says MAC’s Miranda Joyce, while MAC’s Michele Magnani says to choose sunset shades from soft pink to burnt orange, “blended with the fingers onto the cheeks and also touched onto the bridge of the nose so that the colour is completely believable as a natural, healthy flush and becomes part of the skin.” As a colour of sunshine and spring, peach adds a healthy heat-of-summer glow to everything it touches, be it blended on the high point of cheeks, slicked on lips, in a soft wash on eyes or glossed on nails.
“I think as we move into spring, we’re going to be thinking about a rush of flush,” says Val Garland, L’Oréal Paris global make-up director. “Like a softness, an apricot on the lip, like a gentle flower opening.” Just peachy.
Catwalk and backstage photography by Stefan Knauer and Jason Lloyd-Evans. A version of this article originally appeared in the Spring issue of IMAGE Magazine, on sale now. We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.
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