In Tommyland, Being Beautiful Means Embracing What You Have

The gorgeous, long-legged women skating down the Venice Beach Boardwalk in various red, white, and blue ensembles epitomized the beauty theme of Tommy Hilfiger's Spring 2017 runway show: fun, carefree, and effortless. Venice, CA, was transformed into a massive fashion carnival called Tommyland, which was the setting for the Tommy Hilfiger x Gigi Hadid event.

Backstage, which took place in a parking garage set up with vanities and dressing rooms, Gigi, her sister Bella Hadid, and friends like Joan Smalls, Hailey Baldwin, and Devon Windsor got prepped for the show, where the idea wasn't to cover up or change the women's natural beauty. Think fresh-faced makeup with hair that fit each woman's personality.

"The look is very fresh, very natural, an enhancement of their own beauty," celebrity makeup artist (and legend) Pat McGrath told us. "A little contour around the eye, a little Skin Fetish on the cheekbones, beautiful mascara on the lashes, very softly done, and lip balm on the lips!" The models also had their cupid's bow and the bridge of their nose highlighted as well to keep the look "fresh." Tommy and Gigi's direction was to make the girls appear to be glowing. "But no fake tan, but just 'healthy,'" Pat said.

"Everyone's really different. We're working with who the girls are, what their natural texture is, and all we're really doing is enhancing what they have and making the quality of the hair feel more premium," said Eugene Souleiman, global creative director of care and styling for Wella Professionals. "It's really very simple. There are girls with really straight hair, mixed-raced girls with very curly hair, there's fros, there's beachy waves. It's all going on, but I guess that's the idea. For me, I want every girl to look really pretty. It's kind of like a pop-up salon backstage at a fashion show." It should be noted, though, that some of the models did get tracks of hair extensions added to their hair for length.

While the beauty look was pretty minimal, the nails included some fun flair. International celebrity manicurist Mar y Sol Inzerillo explained that gold and silver stars were drawn freehand on the nail, over clear polish, to create the appearance that they were floating. The toes were painted bronze.

Scroll through to see photos of Gigi and the models from backstage, and don't miss who appeared in the front row, plus the '90s-inspired looks from the runway.