It’s backstage at the Helmut Lang show on the first day of New York Fashion Week, and anticipation is in the air. Blow dryers blare, models march and excited (perhaps overcaffeinated) crews chat.
The energy is palpable.
But it’s remarkably calmer around makeup artist Daniel Sallstrom, who is tasked with using MAC Cosmetics to create the ravaged-by-the-elements glam for Peter Do’s second presentation for Helmut Lang. Sallstrom is jitter-free as he precisely smudges pristine makeup on a model’s eyelids with a Q-tip.
“One of the key words for the collection was windswept chaos,” he explains coolly, clearly immune to the electrified air backstage. “The idea was to take a completely done look and disheveling it.”
He navigates the backstage landscape as a seasoned pro, but it’s a long way from where he started his makeup journey.
“In Sweden, we had something called Madame Chic, and my sister had this huge box of makeup she would sell and I would always play with it when I was alone in the house,” Sallstrom says of his early memories. “I’ve always loved transformation and how you can morph yourself with makeup — even as a child.”
As Sallstrom grew in and out of various aesthetic interests — ”When I was about 14 or 15, I got into being a goth and a punk, and that was when I really started experimenting with it,” he says — varying subcultures have inspired him.
“When I was 19 and I moved to London, I was a wild little club kid. I would do drag, gender-bending, and would always play with makeup looks. Then, a senior artist from MAC saw me, asked me to come work for them, and the rest is history,” he says. “It was never planned and it all happened organically.”
Sallstrom still lives in London, where he’s been since the 2000s, though he admits his life feels nomadic. “I live between London, Rome, Milan and New York,” he says, adding that in addition to the underground subcultures, he spends a lot of time in museums when he’s home. “I love the Tate Britain in London; they have this incredible selection of Francis Bacon.”
In any case, he’s keen on getting out of fashion’s echo chamber when sourcing new ideas. “I try to not look at fashion magazines or at Instagram. We’re in such a hamster wheel now where everyone is looking at each other and creating the same thing,” he says. “I try to look more at everyday life, even just walking around. I see so much on the streets.”
But he also gathers insights from his collaborators. His most memorable job is his first show for Rick Owens, fall 2022, where the washed-out glam mirrored the fog machine that clouded the runway.
“Rick Owens — doing his shows was always a goal for me. He’s always been my number-one designer and we have so many similar reference points,” he says. “When I got that first call that he wanted to work with me, I’ll never forget it. And I still get so psyched about it every time.”
When ideating runway looks, he tends to stay focused on the collection he’s working with. At Helmut Lang earlier this month, for example, he iterated on Do’s focal point of daily life in New York, weather and elements aside.
“I look for authenticity and respect” in collaborators, Sallstrom says. “You would have so many designers and photographers that felt they were above everyone else. That way of working is really boring, and you can’t be relaxed with someone who doesn’t see you on the same level as them. It’s also very hard to be creative.”
His dream collaborators vary, though he’s ticked many off the list. “Rihanna, Naomi Campbell I both always wanted to work with, and then I did. Same with David Sims and Rick [Owens]. But there’s always people that are new and up-and-coming, which is what keeps it super interesting.”
There are a few megawatt entertainers that he has his eye on as well. “I would love to work with Cher,” Sallstrom says. “And Dolly Parton. Not only are they icons of incredible happiness, but they seem hilarious. I used to work with Grace Jones back in the day and it was so fun to be around her, because she’s so energizing and hilarious.”
