CND was responsible for the eye-catching (literally) collection of hand-crafted nail designs at Libertine’s fall/winter 2016 show.

“This is now our fourth season partnering with Libertine’s Johnson Hartig and our synergies are intuitive and based in an artists’ understanding of design and fashion," said CND Co-founder and Style Director Jan Arnold. "Johnson shares his extraordinary vision and we’re right there with him! With this collection, we were able to embody CND’s fall 2016 trend story, which is all about authenticity, hand-crafted artistry and embracing the beauty in raw imperfections.”

Inspired by Johnson Hartig’s muse of the season, a French sculptor, painter and filmmaker, with enlightenment from transcendental meditation, both the collection's clothing designs and nail art for the show featured graphic elements of modernism in conjunction with vibrant and animated color. The surrealistic designs were adorned by enameled finishes, pupils that glowed with  beams of light and fine crystals. 

Members of the CND Design Lab Team clocked more than 200 hours of production on the pieces created for this season’s runway show. To complement beaded eye embellishments featured on the unique Libertine garments, the team hand-sculpted 180 eyes in various sizes using RETENTION+ Liquid & Powder, then painted the eyes with SHELLAC Brand 14+ Day Nail Color and VINYLUX Weekly Polish in vibrant color combinations of red, green, blue, orange and pink, grounded in black and white accents. The eyes were finished with 60 LED-lit Swarovski crystal pupils. An additional 180 pastel matte base nails were decked out with soft, fluffy adornments.

“They are a dream team sent from heaven above!” said Libertine designer Johnson Hartig. “This season, they not only created out-of-this-world nails for the female and male models, but they even sculpted miniature eye pins to accessorize the clothing. They go above and beyond every season, and the show just wouldn’t be the same without them.”