Follow the Light: Backstage at OpéraSport Fall/Winter '26 with Saie Beauty

Much like the city itself, Copenhagen Fashion Week moved at a pace of intention. Backstage at OpéraSport’s Fall/Winter 2026 show entitled Venice by Night, beauty echoed the collection’s ethos of ease, under the elevated, natural direction of Saie Beauty.

 

For Saie Global Artistic Director Shain Kish, who led makeup for the show, Copenhagen’s energy reinforced the philosophy behind the look. “It’s so inspirational,” he said of working in the Danish capital. “Sustainability is really important at Saie, and so much of it happens here. Even buying garments that you wanna wear over and over again—that’s what we love at Saie, using simple products that bring joy. There’s beauty in the simplicity.”

 

That idea ran parallel to OpéraSport’s material choices this season: recycled satins, conscious sourcing, and pieces imagined for everyday, with considered adornments—from glimmering sequins to delicate lace details. The faces backstage were built the same way: minimalistic products layered with intention.

Marrying Copenhagen’s distinct pragmatism with Venice’s inherent romance, the collection nodded to both the brand’s Scandi roots and the beauty of the floating city. “Venice has some of the most beautiful light I’ve ever seen. Makeup on its best day is light and shadows, so it translates really well.”

Instead of a diffused, beachy bronze, Kish created structure through warmth—more architectural than sun-kissed. The hero product was Saie’s new baked bronzer, made in Italy, a detail that subtly looped back to the show’s inspiration.

“It’s a baked powder bronzer made in Italy, so even that ties in so well with Venice,” he explained. “We’re doing a very structural bronze—not your beach babe sun-kissed—something like the sun at noon that creates a ‘brontour’.”

 

Complexion was treated like fabric—built in sheer, breathable layers. Models wore Slip Tint Tinted Moisturizer, Slip Tint Concealer, and Slip Tint Powder to create what Kish described as an easy, velvety base where “everything just glows.” The finish let real skin show through, reflecting light the same way the collection’s sequins and satins glimmered.

Using Saie’s latest Dew Blush shade Cherie, color in the cheeks were informed by a healthy, movement-forward glow—think the natural color that emerges after a brisk walk. “It’s meant to just be a flush of blood to the cheeks, like you were just biking, or running,” he said, creating a natural flush opposed to an obvious blushed look.

Eyes stayed mostly tonal, with select looks pushed slightly further through soft definition in the creases. “Around ten percent of the looks got a little more defined eye,” Kish noted, “They’re wearing more bronzer around the eye, for a lived-in look.”

The final step was a deliberate rule-breaker for the runway: setting spray. Where most shows forgo it in place of utilizing creams, Kish used Saie’s City Set Setting Spray as a finishing veil—in his words, the secret weapon. “No matter what you do underneath it, this just finishes and blurs,” he said. “You can spray it as much as you want and it’s going to give you that ‘I’ve been to yoga, I’ve been drinking my green juice’ glow.”

 

Hair by Hanna Ramirez using Iles Formula kept things equally fuss-free as locks were softly controlled with an easy bounce. It all translated to a soft radiance where runway polish met an effortless vitality.