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On 18 September 2026, at the Hall polyvalent in Arlon, the Lux Fashion Week screen showed two names usually seen in the credits: “Adeline & Océane, Hair & Make Up”. Make-up artist Adeline Laubach and hairdresser Océane Van Damme were presenting their own show, “Les talents de l’ombre”, to shine a light on the backstage trades.
An idea launched in a shop in Arlon
Adeline Laubach names the trigger: “a conversation with a friend, Christophe Collignon (Christophe Men’s Store), who really pushed me to take the initiative”. What came next happened in her shop in Arlon, with Océane Van Damme.
I floated the idea and we said: “Go on, let’s try… Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Adeline Laubach
The organisers accepted the concept on 20 November. On the hair side, Océane Van Damme sums it up: “We were just chatting about it as friends, in her shop, and the idea started to take shape.”
Think about the image before the make-up
Two constraints shaped the work. The first was distance: “The difficulty was making the make-up visible from afar; the textures and contrasts had to come across beyond the zooms and the photos.” The second was the absence of clothing: the aim was to “make people forget the garment without slipping into vulgarity or full body painting”.
The rule for the hairstyle fits in one sentence: everything is made of hair. The frames for the hats, rings and wings were built with DIY materials; the rest is hair, including the braids on the hat, each 1.55 m long. “No fabric was used,” Océane Van Damme explains. For the “fire” hairstyle, the model wore only her own hair.
Four characters, four make-up looks
The models were chosen “for their charisma, their presence”, explains Adeline Laubach. Océane Van Damme speaks of their “unconventional side”: “their walk, their presence, their tattoos, their flaming hair, or a man in heels”.
- La Lumière (Light), worn by Nova: a pearly, shimmering effect on the body, leaving the spotlight to the large wings.
- Fire, worn by Marine: special-effects sculpting paste coloured black, and bronze leaves “echoing the flames”.
- Shadow, worn by Youness Nouader: a “dark and deconstructed” black, representing “the boxes people put us in”.
- The ballerina, who opened the show en pointe beneath the hat of braids.
The black paste was tested before the big day, “because it had to withstand heat and movement, but above all her skin must not react”.
A non-stop day
Adeline Laubach arrives backstage at 8:30, “as usual, always the first one backstage”. Preparation then runs non-stop until around 20:00. Nova spent about four hours on preparation, make-up, hair and the full transformation; Youness Nouader spent two hours in the chair, plus 10 to 15 minutes of touch-ups.
The two designers were backed by a small team: Cindy, Océane Van Damme’s first boss, her partner Hugo and her friend Amandine. At the end of the day, everyone lent a hand with the make-up. In all, Océane Van Damme puts the project at around 40 hours of preparation and groundwork, for a walk that had to come off “in just three minutes”.
The photographer on the team
Photographer Picture Flo followed the team backstage, on the catwalk and then in the studio. Adeline Laubach counts him among the talents behind the scenes:
The photographer, Flo, also gave us great support with his equipment and ideas. He didn’t count the hours and was incredibly dedicated.
Adeline Laubach
After the catwalk
For Océane Van Damme, the strongest moment came as she left the stage: “Seeing and hearing all the applause backstage, from the stylists, models, hairdressers and make-up artists… That moment will stay with me for ever.” Adeline Laubach concludes: “I realise today that recognition is even stronger than the spotlight.”
The duo would like to stage the show again. Adeline Laubach has already announced the next date: the “le Voile Noire” fashion show, in Luxembourg, on 14 November.
On info-lux.com (in French): Adeline Laubach, make-up artist to the “talents de l’ombre” · Océane Van Damme, the hairdresser · Nova, the Phoenix · Youness Nouader, the Shadow.
Sources: written answers from Adeline Laubach, Océane Van Damme, Nova and Youness Nouader to info-lux.com (September 2026).
