This Halloween, dare to go beyond the sexy-pirate clichés and wake up your inner Power Pirate!

When it comes to uncovering hidden powers and desires and expressing them in my looks and designs, you could say that everyday is Halloween for me. But once a year, I like to pay extra attention to my dark side. A few Halloweens ago for example, I transformed into a Vampire Queen – custom-made fangs and all – and surprised even myself! Looking in the mirror, I felt powerful and desirable in ways that I had never imagined. I felt more complete.

I love how an ancient festival of tempting contrasts – fall and winter, life and death, horror and desire – has become so popular lately. And I love how women are using Halloween as an opportunity to dress like their sexual fantasies without getting slut-shamed. But this year, why not stand out in a crowd of Playboy bunnies and vampy witches? Why not go a little deeper and darker and unlock some hidden powers?

Designing this Female Pirates collection, I made sure to stay away from ’sexy-pirate‘ clichés as much as possible. Instead, I focused on the warrior spirit of these phenomenal women. During our shoot, thanks to a magical makeover by my incredibly talented styling, hair – and make up teams, I saw the models wake up their inner badass pirates and roar with confidence on the beach. It was amazing! Afterwards, they all described it as an empowering transformation. Inspired by this experience, I chose three ferocious female pirates for you to channel this Halloween. Awaken your inner shield maiden, lady boss or pirate queen, and who knows? You may just slay the rest of the year too!

Lady Boss Cheng I Sao

Hidden power: Ruthless leadership. This cunning prostitute fought and plotted her way up to become the most successful pirate of all time.

Hair: Research ancient Chinese hairstyles, then use fake hair to recreate the elaborate updos. You can also wear your hair down and just use a ton of silicon spray to make it shine, baby, shine!

Make-up: Immaculate red; not only on your lips, but also around the eyes. Perfect eyeliner.

Outfit: Layers of silks and satins in opulent colors to show how rich and successful you are; a circle skirt or wide pants that flare out when you do your killer kungfu high-kicks.

Pirate Queen Anne Bonny

Hidden power: Flaming passion. Following only her passions and burning everything in her wake, this red-haired wrecking ball became the world’s most iconic female pirate.

Hair: Red, and lots of it. Use a wig or a red hair color spray. And make sure to go for the brightest, most badass shades!

Make-up: Lots of bronzer, to get that Caribbean-weathered look.

Outfit: Find military jackets with shiny buttons or sew gold epaulettes onto your sweater; anything that looks like it could have been stolen from a naval officer. Corsets are great, as are Caribbean accessories such as feathers and beads. The end result should be a wild, bohemian, slightly terrifying combination.

Viking Princess Alfhild

Hidden power: Iron-willed independence. This princess slayed her own dragons and led a fleet of like-minded rebel girls.

Hair: Go for power braids and leather-bound ponytails. If you have short hair, use rows of shiny bobby pins to look radically fierce.

Make-up: Use waterproof eyeliner to create facial tattoos. Rim your eyes in black, then smudge it all like Loki would (for the ‚Vikings‘ fans among you).

Outfit: Combine fake fur with leather and ‚heavy metals‘, i.e. any hard-rock accessories you have lying around like studded neck collars and skull rings. You can also make some badass wrist cuffs out of old belts. Just say you pillaged them!

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