This story originally appeared in i-D’s The Summer! Issue, no. 372, Summer 2023. Order your copy here.
In a magazine, a beautiful image is one shot. In real life, that shot took tens, or hundreds of attempts. In beauty editorials, there’s a particular pressure for each of those attempts: to precisely reset hair and make-up, and to direct the models to do it again, please, exactly like that, but er, slightly better. The process is laborious, not least because models are used to doing slightly different things every time, thank you very much. It’s a process that Thomas De Kluyver managed to circumvent on his most recent shoot for i-D, which features a cast of people who are used to doing the same thing over and over, getting better and better each time: synchronised swimmers and gymnasts.
“We asked the model, ‘Okay, so can you do this tumble?’, because we were trying to capture the exact moment of it,” Thomas explains over Zoom from his home in London. “We asked how many she could do and her reply was, ‘well how many do you want me to do?’ She spent the entire day doing the same move for me. I was so impressed. Just with the athleticism, the skill and the dedication.”
The result is a series of joyful, tropical, colourful images of the swimmers and gymnasts, celebrating both their beauty and their physicality. Thomas, a veteran of the beauty industry, is used to pushing the boundaries of what we traditionally think of as “make-up”, and for this shoot, he found a perfect match with photographer Harley Weir. (“Harley is always so creative”, says Thomas. “She just takes an idea and brings it somewhere else. That’s what’s really fun, I love that. I love that with all the pictures the sense of movement is really strong.”) Harley’s work always celebrates the body, the relationship between the self and the environment and this shoot is no exception. The images – shot in one of London’s summertime meccas, the humble lido – are full of movement, colour, intensity, imperfection and life.
“In beauty, people always want to make the make-up look perfect. What was nice about this was that we could make it look imperfect,” Thomas says. “I mean they were submerged under the water for ages! We researched a lot: the kind of products synchronised swimmers use, and the way that products will react with chlorine. Nothing lasts forever in water. It’s nice to deconstruct things. We were doing the same thing over and over, trying to capture these moments.”
To capture these moments properly, Harley and Thomas worked with the gymnasts and swimmers closely – he calls them “risk takers”, which feels appropriate, given that they are “throwing themselves around and doing these crazy things” – to decide on looks that made them feel comfortable and powerful. The research was a huge part of the creative process too; the pair pored over traditional reference points, trawling through Getty images of Olympic athletes for inspiration. “We love this idea of showing beauty in different, unexpected ways,” says Thomas. “The beauty aspect is a huge part of their performance. I wanted to portray beauty in a way that felt athletic, strong, colourful, summery and bold. Also, kind of tropical. The make-up gave them a real sense of power. And they do have the best make-up out of all the sports at the Olympics.”
It’s true, they do! And the two sports Thomas and Harley have chosen to focus on are those everyone watches with extreme fascination (will they make it!) every Olympian summer. But seeing the contortions up close and in high definition, as well as the effect of water and chlorine and sweat on the product, is fascinating in a different way. “On TV it looks very impressive but when you’re right there up close, it’s amazing,” Thomas says. “They’re so talented. The height they get out of the water! It’s fascinating, watching them push the boundaries of what the human body could do. I’m always trying to change up what I do and add new elements, but this feels really different to things I’ve done before.”
A lifelong autodidact, Thomas describes learning his first make-up looks from magazines – “I grew up in Perth, so you’d get i-D about five months after it was out in the UK. I was already five months behind!” – and books before trying them out on himself and his friends before they went to raves. His passion for beauty began then; it was a way of feeling less alone, and a way of communicating with the world creatively. “Perth is actually one of the most isolated cities in the whole world, geographically speaking, so growing up somewhere like that and wanting to have access to things is tough,” Thomas says. “Especially if you feel different to everyone else, which I certainly did when I was young. Now, with TikTok, it’s different and it’s impressive. It’s definitely encouraging people to be creative and have their own unique style.”
Today, he likens his own job to the dedication you’d expect from an Olympian, and it doesn’t feel like an exaggeration. The Australian-born, London-based make-up artist has been working in the beauty industry for 21 years, using his platform and practice to push boundaries of what we consider beautiful and why we expect beauty to be perfect and flawless when everything else – both in the universe, and our own lives – isn’t. As well as creating runway and editorial looks for Simone Rocha, Acne, Kenzo and Jil Sander and collaborating with a slew of photographers and i-D veterans – Zoë Ghertner, Collier Schorr, Alasdair McLellan, Harley Weir, Glen Luchford – along the way, he’s also become Global Make-up Artist for Gucci Beauty, where his first campaign featured red lipstick smudged across snaggleteeth and deliberately clumped mascara.
“I’m always trying to push the boundaries of what make-up is,” Thomas says, “but here I wanted to stay true to the athletes. I was actually quite shocked at how free everyone was. They were really positive and excited and wanted to show off what they can do. The style of sports they do is very performative, and they had a real confidence and strength that shines through in this shoot. There’s a real energy to it.” Almost enough energy to make you want to dive into a freezing cold lido yourself.
Credits
Photography Harley Weir
Fashion Georgia Pendlebury
Hair Shiori Takahashi at Streeters using Babyliss PRO
Make-up Thomas de Kluyver at Art Partner using Gucci Beauty
Nail technician Sylvie Macmillan at MA+ Talent using CND
Set design Louis Simonon at The Magnet Agency
Lighting director Alexa Horgan
Photography assistance JJay Johnson, Sebastian McCluskey and Andrew Moores
Digital technician Jeanne Buchi
Fashion assistance Michiel Heemskerk, Emily Jones and Belle Nowak
Hair assistance Yuri Kato and Masaki Ueda
Make-up assistance Josh Bart, Molly Sheridan and Kosei Kitada
Nail technician assistance Hayley Evans-Smith and Abena Robinson
Set design assistance Eddie Amos, Matty Mancey-Jones and Yukika Tasaki
Production Victoria Pugh and Iain McCray Martin at Partner Films
Production manager Jake Collins
Junior producer Alice Kasinather-Jones
Production assistance Will Bruce
Casting director Gabrielle Lawrence at People-File
Models Erin McIntosh and Gemma Frizelle at FORTE Sports Talent, Savannah Gracey, Sisy Wang, Genevieve Chenneour, Rebecca Richardson, Inesse Guermoud and Celina Dembinska-Kenner at Aquabatix, Georgia Mae Fenton at Cast My Child and Lena Saunders at Aquaoaks