If the psychedelic, whimsical illustrations created by British artist Julie Verhoeven for Marc Jacobs Beauty don't seem familiar to you, it's because they are quite a departure from the relatively restrained style she went with for MAC's Illustrated collection in 2012. Five years after the MAC collaboration, Verhoeven has again made her mark on the makeup world by working with Marc Jacobs on his spring 2017 collection, lending her talents to create 2 makeup sets, both of which I purchased.
The Enamored with a Twist set features a mishmash of motifs, including a clothespin, a disembodied mouth with a row of rainbow colored teeth and couple of goofily grinning faces. According to the product description, Verhoeven was aiming to create "modern cartoon imagery". Cartoony it is, but to my eye it has more of a '70s feel.
Three glosses in lovely spring shades are included in the makeup bag.
Velvet Reality is the name of the other set. This one is my favorite of the two, as I love that frog's face!
The set contains mascara, a cream eyeshadow stick and eyeliner.
The illustrations are crazy and eye-catching enough as it is, but what I appreciated is that they were different from those from the Marc Jacobs fashion collection. Although, I wouldn't have minded if they had simply chosen a couple and slapped them on the sets – I still would have bought them hook line and sinker. They're just so fun!
It was quite an extensive lineup so I'm sharing only a few pieces.
"With Marc Jacobs I tried not to be too polite with the graphics, sneaking in some phalluses and domestic appliances that sort of have no reason to be there," she says in an interview. Indeed, with her Instagram hashtags for these pieces like "#phallicmushroom" and the bizarre inclusion of toasters and vacuum cleaners, her description is on the nose. Of course, as with the makeup bags, the "Pill Popping Amphibian" is my favorite motif – he has the silliest expression.
I love spike details so these shoes were right up my alley.
Verhoeven is truly multi-talented. In the time since I last explored her work, she continues her illustration and fashion endeavors, but has also been dabbling in performance art with some pretty captivating shows in 2014 and 2016. Still, I felt like these trippy, out-there illustrations were quite different from the rest of her work…until I realized she had collaborated before with Marc Jacobs all the way back in 2002 for a line of Louis Vuitton bags. As it turns out, this groovy style isn't new territory at all for Verhoeven – right down to the frog motif, the designs for Jacobs this time around are very similar to the ones produced during their previous collaboration.
Getting back to makeup, I love the soft pastel shades included in the sets, but I'm more enamored of Verhoeven's own style. An article in the Guardian describes her bold cosmetic choices: "Verhoeven herself is a jumble of different shades: at 9.30am she is sporting cobalt blue eyeliner, hot pink lips and cheeks and a whitened face, alongside blue tights, coral nail polish and a multicoloured dress. And somehow it all fits together. 'I can’t leave the house without the face on, I’ve got that down to under five minutes,' she says. 'It’s also a layer and a disguise, in a way – I’m aware I’ve got a masculine face, so the makeup is supposed to make me disappear. But really it’s absurd because it does the opposite.'" She definitely gives me confidence to continue wearing crazy makeup colors as I approach middle age…although I'm not a cool artist so I don't know if I could pull it off.
What do you think of this collab? Do you prefer Verhoeven's more traditional fashion illustrations of women, such as the ones for MAC, or her more surreal style?
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
I'm cramming in one more holiday collection before 2017 arrives! While still not as impressive (in my opinion) as 2012's Warhol collection, this year's holiday offering from NARS is a considerable improvement over previous years. Mr. Nars teamed up with French fashion photographer Sarah Moon to create a collection that combines Moon's signature dreamlike style with Nars' edgy color schemes.
Nars, a longtime fan of Moon's, finally got up the nerve to approach her for a collaboration, and gave her free reign to come up with the collection's concept and imagery. He explains: "I wanted to work with Sarah because I've been one of her biggest fans over the years. I remember when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I [had] already noticed her work in all the French magazines in the '70s. She had already worked and done the imagery for Cacharel, which, in the '70s, was quite big in France. She had created these incredible images, which were actually quite close to what we did for Nars. It was my dream to work with her one day, and when we started doing collaborations for Nars, I was lucky enough to say, 'I want to work with Sarah Moon.' And she agreed. The most exciting thing for me was the fact that I told Sarah she could do anything she wants. I was probably the best client she could ever dream of; I said, 'Do not limit yourself. Give me anything you want. Your requests will be orders, and we will get it done.' She decided everything from the styling — the plastic that was done with Patti Wilson, the stylist — everything was done in London, Patti did the research and had the accessories made. All this part was very fun and the fact that by the end, I knew I was going to get a pure 'Sarah Moon' image. I didn't want her to feel like she couldn’t do this or that, so it was very exciting on that part."
As for the makeup, Moon wanted something soft but that still made an impact. "We really collaborated to find this woman that was delicate, yet strong and always very modern,” she said. In comparing the collection's behind-the-scenes video and more images from Metropolis, you can once again see the resemblance. The dark eye shadow and lips from the film get a 21st-century update in the NARS campaign.
I have to say just from looking at these stills, Metropolis seems totally bizarre, not to mention terrifying. I don't think I'll be watching it anytime soon.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit I had never heard of Moon until now, so I'm going to give a brief rundown of her work so we can situate her style within the NARS collection. Moon's hazy, dreamy images often lead to her being described as an "impressionist" photographer. They're notable in their own right, but Moon also has the honor of being the first woman to shoot the famous Pirelli calendar, a feat she accomplished in 1972.
The dark eyeshadow and red lips are similar to those from the Nars collection, no? Obviously it's been updated – it's less harsh – but it's interesting that Moon maintained her fondness for this particular look for over 40 years. The nod to Metropolis in the NARS collection is also unsurprising given the artist's infatuation with 1920s style, a passion shared with Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki, for whom Moon photographed campaigns: "The two women shared a love for silent-era screen stars, like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, and they played off those references by setting models’ pale complexions against moody backgrounds."
As for Moon's overall style, I find it slightly eerie but undeniably pretty. It's not quite surreal, but certainly not of this world; the women in her photos seem to occupy another realm. The closest thing I can think of is that rare state between wakefulness and sleep, like when you're coming out of a dream and you're not sure whether you're awake or still asleep – that's what these images evoke for me. I also think the women are portrayed as feminine yet strong, and sensual rather than overtly sexy, which is a rarity in fashion photography.
In looking at Moon's work, I have to say I'm disappointed that Nars lumped her in with the other photographers he's collaborated with over the years. "I'm always trying to work with people that have a very strong visual sense of beauty. I think Sarah Moon and [previous collaborator] Steven Klein are so extremely different, but they have the same love and same strong, edgy, sharp sense of fashion and beauty. And they love women, which is so important. They love making [women beautiful], elevating them and really beautifying them. Steven [Klein], Guy Bourdin and myself — because I love making women look beautiful when I take pictures for the campaigns — it's really the same approach. We all do it in different ways, but we all love making women look beautiful." Right, because nothing demonstrates how much you love and respect women like taking photos of them stuffed into trashcans or insensitively portraying them as abused mental patients. *eyeroll* I mean, come on! There is such a huge difference between Moon's approach to photographing women and Klein/Bourdin. But at least Nars understands that these collections will bring the work of photographers he admires to a wider audience, which, grudgingly, I fully support. "Doing these collaborations makes us really promote photography and great talent. It's a platform; we're putting them in focus and in the spotlight and maybe making the public discover someone like Sarah Moon, who, in America, might not be as famous as she is in Europe…I love photographers, so it's very nice that through that, I'm having so much fun creating colors and doing the packaging. And at the same time, it's great for photography and artists. The collaborations won't only be with photographers; we're going to have painters, we're going to have sculptors, who knows. We want to work with different people."
Final thoughts: I can appreciate the beauty of Moon's work and I thought both she and Nars absolutely nailed a modern, unique spin on Metropolis, but honestly, it's not my favorite. The nearsighted among us might slowly be driven crazy while looking at Moon's photos, wondering if we actually have our glasses on/contacts in or if our prescription needs to be stronger. And the NARS palettes proved immensely difficult to photograph because I could never tell whether my photos are blurry or if it's just Moon's trademark haziness.
What do you think?
Clé de Peau's holiday collection was one of those "order without thinking" kind of purchases for the Museum – as soon as I saw the elegant, Art Deco-inspired ladies on the packaging I knew it would be an excellent asset to the Museum's holdings. New Orleans artist Ashley Longshore was responsible for these lovely designs. In general, Longshore took her cue from Clé de Peau Creative Director Lucia Pieroni, who wanted to capture the feel of the women painted by Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980). "When Clé de Peau Beauté approached me to create the packaging for the collection, I felt I had the opportunity to collaborate with both Lucia and Tamara. I think I brought a sense of modernity to the work that was truly my own yet noticeably inspired by the powerful, bold women who Tamara de Lempicka was known for painting," Longshore says.
The brush set is gorgeous, but I wasn't able to find the original artwork it came from. This was the most similar piece I could find at the Clé de Peau website. All of Longshore's original pieces are for sale, and each one has a little blurb explaining the artist's inspiration behind them.
"I really wanted this piece to symbolize pure confidence and elegance, that’s why I used a peacock. The peacock is the most beautiful of all birds: confident and radiant."
"I wanted this painting to be simplistic and elegant and capture that spirit of art deco. Her profile is so elegant and demure. Her jewelry is the perfect statement to her beauty. The soft periwinkle blues and the gold is so sophisticated and radiant."
The lip glosses:
And the paintings.
"This woman symbolizes minimalist refined beauty – like that of a flower it doesn't have to try too hard. It blossoms and it is what is it is and we appreciate its beauty for what it is."
"Hummingbirds are very symbolic in my artwork because they move so quickly you have to enjoy every moment of their beauty and I created this panting to embody how we should appreciate every precious moment in our lives."
There was also this stunning face cream, which I did not purchase as it went for a cool $535, not to mention the artwork was only featured on the outer box and not on the jar itself.
But just for fun, here are the original paintings that appeared on the box.
"Ahhh! It took millions of years in the earth to create something that sparkles so much that we love so much I painted this because sometimes it takes time to find your inner beauty so for me this is how we appreciate our brilliance as women."
"As a woman the happiest of days is a day you feel confident, beautiful, elegant and are surrounded by jewels."
There were also these two paintings, but I don't think they appeared on any of the Clé de Peau packaging.
"This piece I really wanted to showcase elements of being a woman that are fun. Her jewelry, the illuminating gold leaf, the hummingbird representing the fleeting moments of our life, the jewels, the camellia. This piece was made to represent the height of femininity."
"The camellia is not just a symbol of Clé de Peau but for me it symbolized the height of what our beauty can be and as women we all want to be the bloomed moment and stay in that moment so for me this is the forever moment."
Naturally I was very curious to check out more of Longshore's work to see if the Clé de Peau pieces were in keeping with her aesthetic. To my great surprise I found her other paintings far more brash and humorous than what we're seeing on the Clé de Peau collection. Longshore classifies herself as a pop artist, and that comes across much clearer in her other work. I think the Clé de Peau pieces (which were brand new commissions for the artist, so no recycling of previous work here) are most reminiscent of Longshore's Audrey series. "Audrey represents the woman we all aspire to be…she is so elegant. So beautiful, so philanthropic, such a lady, that neck, that profile…I want that," she says. “Eyes closed, Audrey, for me, radiates goodness. What a perfect template for the perfect woman. Her image is very comforting. She’s like my 'woobie.' The imagery is also about the many hats a woman wears. It’s amazing to be a woman in the United States today.”
While the above examples bear a good resemblance to the women on the Clé de Peau packaging, the other Audreys are more along Longshore's trademark pop art lines. The series takes a turn for the wacky with a range of bizarre additions perched atop the icon's head: art-themed snowglobes, sea creatures, even Star Wars storm troopers.
She can make anything look good!
Indeed, I found most of Longshore's paintings to be funny, modern takes on the Pop Art tradition. I think Warhol would have greatly admired this version of David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps, "Bat Van", or Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring as Wonder Woman.
I also love the rather irreverent, brazen attitude of these word-based paintings. Speaking of words, another reason I became an instant fan of Longshore is her foul mouth, for which she is completely unapologetic. If you check her Instagram (and you really should – not only do you get to see more of her work, she finds the weirdest, most hilarious online clips) I think nearly all of her photos have #fuckyeah as a hashtag, and she notes that "fuck is my fave word" right in her profile.
Literally LOL at this one.
While most of Longshore's work is fairly straightforward, I must say I was puzzled by a few of the other topics she takes on, namely trophy wives and status symbols. While Longshore maintains that her paintings on these are good-natured fun and that she's not mocking those women or the general lifestyle of the 1% ("I love trophy wives, I mean, they’re the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen, they’re incredible. I often fantasize about what it would be like to be that, just a beautiful little flower that has to put your hand out for everything”) I feel her paintingstell a very differentstory. I had an entire section of this post trying to reconcile her words with her work, but ended up rambling for well over 1,000 words with no conclusion so I scrapped it. Instead, I'll highlight the artist's business acumen, which ties into the Clé de Peau collection.
Not only is Longshore is gifted artistically, she's quite a shrewd businesswoman. In addition to lucrative collabs with other companies like Anthropologie, Longshore harnesses the power of social media and regularly connects with clients online, eschewing traditional gallery sales. "As an artist twenty years ago, sending paper work to galleries, thinking that the gallery was the only way to make it, knowing that right off the cuff I would have to give up 50% and praying to god that some snob could really tell clients about me and tell them about me in a way that was really accurate, felt wrong at the beginning of my career…Just running numbers through my head, it only made sense to self-represent, and here we go with the internet. Next thing you know we have Facebook, there is Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and all of these tools are free. They are free and so for me being able to connect with my clients in a world that is so visual and putting myself out there in that way where if someone likes it they can follow, if they don’t they can unfollow and on another level being able to freely explore on the internet was a game changer.” In an interview with Elle, she explains further, "With social media, artists are letting people into the process of creation, and people love that…Artists just want to be loved and understood. Galleries are the ones that have made it elitist. Who wants to walk into a gallery in Chelsea and have some emaciated girl scowling at you through her black, horn-rimmed glasses? I certainly don't. When people come in my studio, I give them a smile and a glass of Veuve." While I see her point about larger cosmopolitan galleries I know that smaller, local places are in fact welcoming, and I personally would never drop thousands on a piece of art that I hadn't seen in person.* But overall I admire her effort to democratize art and make it more accessible. Longshore also started a project called Artgasm, which allows collectors to get a handmade, signed piece by the artist in exchange for a $500 yearly membership fee – considerably more affordable than the thousands her paintings go for. "Let's say you could pay $2,500 and be a part of Jeff Koons' private art membership, and four times a year, you get something from Jeff Koons delivered to you, and it's signed by him. Do you think that would be cool? That is basically what I am doing. It's basically a way for me to work with other brands and a way for my collectors to get my custom pieces that are only going to go up in value," she states. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Longshore's original pieces are for sale at the Clé de Peau website. I think this is one of the first times, if not the very first, I've seen an artist's work for sale directly alongside the makeup. That's a pretty savvy move on her part. And oh, how I'd love to have those paintings to display with the collection! A makeup museum curator can dream. 🙂
Just had to share of a picture of the artist – she is too fun not to!
What's next for the artist? Besides a line of clutch purses and a book due out in February, on a grander scale, Longshore says she wants to help fellow artists. "I would like to be one of the artists that empowers these artists, that eliminates the starving artists. That I could help teach these artists how to utilise the magic and the gift that they’ve been given, to take images from their minds, put them on a canvas, or sculpture, and than to sell them, and have that money, and to use that money to travel, and learn, and to continue to put their their views and opinions out there. My greatest achievement would be to help artists all over he world do that. I want there to be more rich artists. I love that lawyers, doctors, and hedge funds and businessmen and all these people have all this wealth, but I can only imagine how beautiful the world would be if we had all these creative people that were just being showered with money because the universe loved what they were doing so much. I want to help these artists figure out how to keep that money and repurpose it into being more creative. That would be my greatest legacy." Ever the comedian, she adds, "I think I’ll be there when I have Thunder Pussy…[which is] gonna be my jet—my cherry-red jet—and it’s gonna have a cat with a lightning bolt on the back wing. And people will see Thunder Pussy, and they’ll go, ‘It’s her! She’s here!’ And then I’ll land, and I’ll be like the Oprah of the art world, and I’ll say, ‘Oh my little artist darlings!’ And I’ll teach them.” Sounds great to me.
Overall I thought this was a really well done collection. Longshore is full of surprises – in looking at the Clé de Peau collection, I never would have guessed that the person responsible for such elegant designs is the same woman who put an octopus on Audrey Hepburn's head. ;) While none of her usual humor and silliness showed through I think it's fitting that she opted for a more sophisticated vibe, which is what we expect from a brand like Clé de Peau. You could still tell the art was unmistakeably Longshore's, and that's the cornerstone of a successful artist collab: modifying one's work to suit the brand while maintaining one's overall aesthetic. As for Longshore herself, well, I'd love to hang out with her, given her larger-than-life personality and sense of humor.
Thoughts?
*Case in point: last year around this time the husband emailed me a picture of a painting he saw in a gallery and said he really wanted to buy it. I looked at it and was completely underwhelmed. I didn't hate it but couldn't figure out why he thought it was so special. So off to the gallery we went…and my mind was blown. I couldn't believe how much better this piece was in person! It almost didn't look like the same painting, it was THAT much better. Sometimes art just doesn't translate to the digital realm – this is why physical galleries still have value in the Internet age. I guess I'm biased too since we know someone who runs a gallery in town and I can tell you she's not deliberately trying to screw artists out of their money nor is she the least bit snooty! Yes, the gallery gets a cut but they're certainly not out to bleed artists dry.
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
I thought I'd get the holiday ball rolling with Shu's latest collection, their second collaboration with world-renowned artist Takashi Murakami. The video above brings the collection story to life: "One late night in Tokyo, a young woman gazes up at the sky, dreaming of adventure and discovery. Suddenly the infinite darkness is animated, a myriad of vividly colored flower-stars dance across the sky. The wide-eyed, beaming flower-stars sweep her away on a cosmic journey, illuminating a new universe of beauty, and a galaxy of hope beyond her imagination." As charming as the video is, I have to admit that the story, along with the packaging, didn't wow me at first glance. And to tell the truth I'm still on the fence as to whether I really like this collection. Let's see why.
I picked up two items, the Cosmicool palette and the cleansing oil.
These crazily grinning flowers are probably Murakami's most famous motif (they even had the privilege of taking over an entire room at Versailles), so it makes sense that they would end up on the Shu packaging. Still, their use left me feeling a little underwhelmed. Off I went in search of some deeper significance for Murakami's flowers in the hopes of finding the Shu collection to be more inspired than it first appears.
According to a 2002 interview, Murakami spent much of his early days drawing flowers: “When I was preparing for the entrance exams for the University of Fine Arts, I spent two years drawing flowers. I drew some every day. And the entrance exam in the Nihon-ga section also involved flower drawing. Afterwards, to earn a living, I spent nine years working in a preparatory school, where I taught the students to draw flowers. Once every two days, I would buy flowers for my lesson and make compositions for the students to work on. At the beginning, to be frank, I didn’t like flowers, but as I continued teaching in the school, my feelings changed: their smell, their shape – it all made me feel almost physically sick, and at the same time I found them very ‘cute’. Each one seems to have its own feelings, its own personality.” I found that last sentence to be quite intriguing, since all of his flowers seem to have the same personality, yes? It would seem that they're all happy and smiling, as in these examples.
However, Murakami's ambivalence towards flowers – simultaneously finding them both "cute" and unappealing – is actually expressed in many of his flower works. In this article from 2011, Murakami explains how the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a key influence in the formation of his style, along with American and Japanese cartoon characters: "There is brightness. But my real story has a kind of darkness…I expanded it to include some of the characters that you see in my work…Mickey Mouse and the characters from Japanese games. There is the contrast between the cuteness and the cruelty. And the sadness and the cruelty and the cuteness are symbolized by the characters. So this is how my early work began. As an expression of sadness and cruelty.” If you look closely at some of the flower paintings, some of them aren't smiling; on the contrary, they're crying.
A weeping flower can be found towards the upper right in this one.
I zoomed in and cropped the image so you can see it a little better.
And another on the right, it's a small flower with pale pink leaves and a white center.
Murakami's work went especially dark in 2012, when he interspersed skulls with flowers for an exhibition at the Gagosian. The collection of 28 works for the exhibition continued one of Murakami's "central dichotomies of his art—between joy and terror, his optimistic magnanimity as an artist and his pessimistic perspective on postwar Japan." But it was also a response to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. "Natural catastrophes and earthquakes are things caused by nature. Such chaos is natural, but we have to make sense of it somehow, and so we had to invent these stories. That is what I wanted to paint,” he states.
More recent works also have the sad flowers, even the ones with seemingly cheerful titles.
Detail (look below the blue flower on the bottom right):
Even though sometimes the flowers aren't as bright and positive as they seem, I was pleased to see at least some explanation of their meaning for Murakami and the deeper ideas he's trying to express through them. And there aren't any sad flowers in the Shu collection, so I think it was intended to be magical and optimistic, which is more appropriate for the holiday season. Having said that, I would have liked to see an original flower piece for the Shu collection. There are so many flower paintings I simply couldn't tell whether these particular flowers were borrowed from another work or if they were something new created just for the Shu collection, but it would have been nice to know. Even though my cursory investigation yielded some answers, I'm still a little perplexed by the selection of flowers for this collection, especially after seeing the making of the video.
It's so elaborate – hiring dancers to "wrap" the city, a carefully thought-out nod to Murakami's background (he makes a cameo as a taxi driver, which was his father's occupation), and music selection – it seems like more work went into making the collection video than the packaging. And going back to my previous statement that Murakami's flowers are his best-known motif, they really do appear everywhere, from cushions to key chains to sneakers. There was even a pop-up cafe in Tokyo devoted to Murakami's flowers last year.
All of this is to say nothing of his long-time collaboration with Louis Vuitton, which, incidentally, featured a collection with the same name as the Shu palettes! Cosmic Blossom debuted in 2010; both of this year's Shu palettes are also titled Cosmic Blossom. My hunch about the packaging being somewhat uninspired seems correct in light of all this. It seems like the company just decided to slap Murakami's most iconic symbol on there and call it a day, without protest from the artist.
I also can't help but wonder whether I agree with this 2007 take on the artist's business endeavors: "Unfortunately, since around 2001 Murakami has been so set on merging fine art with commercial product that by now all he’s doing is moving merch. The best that can be said about Murakami’s new work is that he’s making pretty money. Or pretty empty money. The main attractions of this exhibition are 50 little happy-faced flower paintings and six large portraits of a haggard-looking Zen patriarch. The flowers are insipid. So are the portraits, although at least with them Murakami is up to his old extreme stylization. But the real content of Murakami’s art is money and marketability. Hence, each of the 50 silly flowers reportedly goes for $90,000; the portraits, about $1.5 mil per unit. Four better larger flower paintings run about $450,000; two boring pictures of severed hands, about $400,000. Needless to say, the gallery reports everything is sold." Ouch. While I don't want to appear nearly as harsh, on the one hand, I'm sort of in agreement that Murakami just might be a bit of a sell-out at this point. Having your key motif on commercial items is fine, but when it appears on so many things, it loses a little something – it just doesn't seem as special. On the other hand, I admire any artist who also possesses this level of business acumen; in this day and age, it's basically expected that artists will embark on these sorts of partnerships. I mean, I have an entire category of posts on makeup/artist collaborations! And while I do think at times it's something of a cash grab, putting one's most recognizable work on merchandise isn't an entirely terrible or tasteless thing, as it ensures accessibility for those who can't afford the original. I wouldn't mind having those little flower faces smiling at me from an original painting, but since I can't afford those, having them on makeup (or key chain, or whatever you prefer) is the next best thing. It's the same concept as couture house makeup: A tweed Chanel jacket is out of my financial reach, but I can buy a Chanel blush with a tweed pattern on it. It's also a way to introduce one's work to an audience that might not necessarily be familiar with it otherwise. For the vast majority of artist collabs that I've covered, I can't say I've heard of the artist prior to their working with a makeup company and I really enjoy finding out about them this way.
So where does that leave me in terms of the Shu collection? I guess the bottom line is that I think it's worthy of the Museum's collection since it does incorporate the artist's best-known work, but it's not the most inspired we've seen. Especially not when compared to the previous Murakami collection, which, though it borrowed one of the artist's animated works, at least had a more original theme. Perhaps if Murakami had created a unique flower design specifically for Shu I'd be more enthusiastic.
Thoughts?
This was one of those collections I didn't think twice about, just pounced as soon as it was available at Neiman Marcus. As the insert above indicates, for the brand's 25th anniversary, Bobbi Brown collaborated with illustrator Richard Haines to create 3 palettes that represent 3 of the world's top fashion cities: Paris, London and New York.
Here's Paris. The woman's outfit is great, but I particularly love the rendering of the Eiffel Tower.
London – the trench coat is perfection:
And here's New York. Those striped tuxedo pants look so familiar but I can't place them. However, I'm almost positive that's a Balenciaga City bag.
Now for a little background on Richard Haines. The New York-based artist started drawing at the tender age of 5. In an interview for Opening Ceremony's blog, he says, "Everyone else was drawing airplanes, and I was drawing wedding dresses…I stayed with my grandparents every summer, and my grandfather got The New York Times everyday. When I was about ten, I was looking through it and there was coverage of the Paris couture collections–this was like 1962 or 1963. They were all drawings. You know, there were no photographs because they didn't have the technology to send them back then. So it was all of these beautiful fashion illustrations of Givenchy and Dior, and they were so elegant. I remember thinking 'Oh my god, how can someone make these beautiful drawings with just a few lines and give out all that information?' That was kind of where the obsession started."
In scrolling through his Instagram, two things immediately jumped out. One, Haines is left-handed. You know how I'm fascinated with lefties!
Naturally I kept scouring his account to find some favorites. Haines is a regular at the world's biggest fashion shows now, and he greatly enjoys the immediacy and energy of the runway: "Drawing at the shows is incredible—there is something about the intimacy of that moment. I find that, if someone asks me to do something after a show from photos, it’s never going to be the same, its never going to have that aliveness. There’s something about the energy of the model on a runway, what that designer is presenting, the kind of the vibe of the audience and that’s all in that drawing—or at least, I want it to be, that's the goal!" In looking at his work I can definitely see the bustling liveliness of the shows. The lines are almost haphazard, borderline sloppy, yet still form a cohesive and powerful image. For example, in the sketches Haines created for this year's couture shows at Paris Fashion Week, I was able to easily identify all of the clothing. At first glance the pieces look rather hastily, frenetically drawn, but ultimately the image comes together to perfectly capture the fleeting essence of fashion.
While Haines is a fixture at the front rows, it's street style that seems to intrigue him the most. In his mind, runway displays aren't that much different from the street – both involve people-watching, one of Haines's favorite activities. "I've realized I have a short attention span and fashion is perfect for that, because it's a continual feed of ideas, color, performance, beauty, and people. It's really exciting! I mean I really just love watching people, even just walking down the street here [in Bushwick]. I see these amazing kids and in its own way, it's a fashion show," he says.
Haines focuses primarily on menswear, something that in my mind seems to be somewhat lacking from the oeuvre of most fashion illustrators. I love women's fashion, of course, but it's good to see the guys getting their due. Even though the Bobbi palettes only feature women, which makes sense since they're makeup, I still appreciate a collab with an artist who generally doesn't have such an emphasis on women's wear.
My favorite series is one he did for high-end men's fashion site Mr. Porter (the men's equivalent of net-a-porter.) Haines visited 6 different cities, interviewing and sketching the owners of his favorite looks. I like to think of these as a sort of precursor to the Bobbi Brown palettes. While these are actual people and the women on the palettes are more of a general representation of that city's style, the concept is similar.
Haines also has several fashion collaborations under his belt. Not a surprise, since he was a designer himself for over 25 years before returning to his original passion for illustration. He tells Out, "I moved to New York thinking I wanted to be a fashion illustrator, but my style wasn’t really developed, and it wasn’t assertive, confident. There’s something apologetic about it, so I stopped doing it. That’s when I became a fashion designer for 25-30 years. By the time I started it again, I had the confidence to get behind it, and to really own my work — which was not that long ago. I think that’s when my style happened."
In addition to teaming up with Bobbi Brown, this fall Haines also collaborated with Moore & Giles for a collection of leather goods. I like the overall look of the illustrations. They're sporty – most of the men are engaged in some kind of athletic activity – but still refined and gentlemanly (especially the dude in the top hat and tails).
Overall, I like the slightly disheveled, immediate feel of Haines' work. While I do think it's a bit odd to have a collaboration between a makeup brand and a fashion illustrator whose main interest is menswear, Haines demonstrates he's equally adept at drawing well-dressed women as well as depicting a particular moment or atmosphere – perfect for capturing the individual, of-the-moment style of the world's most fashion-forward cities.
What do you think? I wonder how much Haines would charge to draw the husband…he is immensely fashionable and I'd love to see him wearing one of his best outfits in illustrated form. 🙂
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
It's kind of a moot point that these beautiful Shu cleansing oils slipped through my radar last year, as 1. they were Australia-exclusive and I had no way of purchasing them; and 2. they're technically hair products, so it's a bit outside the Museum's purview. Still, they're pretty awesome looking so I wanted to share them anyway.
As the first installment of their Art Series, in May of 2015 Shu teamed up with 3 Australian artists to design 3 bottles for the brand's Cleansing Oil Shampoo. The collection was released at a VIP event at Sydney's China Heights Gallery.
First up we have fashion designer Emma Mulholland, whose quirky, surf culture-inspired pieces are making her a favorite among the likes of Kanye West, Azealia Banks and Grimes. Photos of her spring/summer 2015 collection, entitled "Risqué Business", adorned the walls of the gallery where the oils were being displayed.
Mulholland, a graduate of Sydney's TAFE, made her solo debut at Australian Fashion Week in 2013 and cites '80s and '90s pop culture as her main sources of inspiration. "I love pop culture and watching movies is one of my favourite ways to relax. I like movies from the 80s and 90s mainly so I’m always inspired by them, also a lot of bands and musicians from those times too," she says. I can definitely see these influences in her work, from the '80s pops of neon and geometric shapes to the '90s-esque platform sneakers and overall silhouettes.
I'm particularly fond of her "Spaced Out" collection – it's an incredibly fun riff on the conspiracy theory that aliens built the Egyptian pyramids.
As for the Shu collab, Mulholland explains, "Shu Uemura got in contact with me about the Art Series and it sounded like a really exciting project so I jumped at the opportunity to work with them. It was great because I got to look back through my archive prints and work with them on choosing one that would work for the bottle. [It's] a print from one of my very first collections ‘Bad as I Guana Be’. The theme was the Mexican desert but mixed with basketball—so that’s how it came about." It's totally bizarre, so naturally I love it.
Next up we have tattoo artist Dean Carlyle. I was unable to find any information on how the collaboration with Shu came about, or any other biographical information about him, but I think we get a good sense of his aesthetic just by looking at his tattoos. Big, bold, traditional-style tattoos are his jam – none of the delicate, single-needle stuff we see so much of these days (although I must say I prefer the latter!) These are definitely not for the faint of heart.
As for the Shu oil, you can see the rest of the illustration as it was installed in the gallery. The stock photo of the bottle at the beginning of this post only gives a partial view of the fierce woman that wraps around the side and back of the bottle.
I think the design on the Shu oil is most reminiscent of these drawings by Carlyle.
You can catch a peek of more of his work at the gallery.
Finally, we have New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based illustrator Andrew Archer. Originally trained as a graphic designer, Archer is influenced by woodblock prints and his stints living in Asia, which is readily apparent in his work. Archer created a Japanese warrior-inspired design for the Shu collab. I think this one best represents the product given its emphasis on the hairstyle.
The Shu collab caught Archer a little off guard, but he was pleased with the end result. He says, "I was initially curious as to why [Shu was] wanting my work specifically for the collaboration, most beauty brands play it pretty safe with their imagery and in contrast Shu Uemura wasn't at all shy about wanting to get something different, stylistic and contrasting incorporated into their brand. This was almost entirely what made me want to work with Shu Uemura – the chance to create something unique, and present something to a new audience who could join in the visual journey Shu Uemura and I created together."
Archer describes his style as "free flowing, confident but quirky coloring and surreal," which we can see in these prints for the FIA Formula E racing championship series. I also like how sharply Archer captured not only the cities in which the championships took place but also the speed and motion of the cars - you can practically hear the "whoosh!" as they zoom by.
Of course, I'm partial to sea creatures. I think you can especially see the influence of woodblock prints in these two.
Some more of his work at the China Heights Gallery:
Overall, I'm dismayed that this collection was exclusive to Australia, and I find it odd that it didn't even make it to the Asian markets – if they had, I may have had a chance of acquiring these. I know technically they're hair products but I still would love to have gotten my hands on them. What's even sadder is that there is another artist series that Shu did earlier this summer and it's the same Australia-exclusive shtick, so I can't get those either. (I'm still going to cover the series anyway though so stay tuned!) Finally, I really admire whoever curated/installed the gallery show. If I had a physical museum, artist collabs would look a lot like this.
Which is your favorite? I liked all of them but I think Emma Mulholland's is my pick. While she didn't create an original design specifically for the collaboration, the sheer absurdity of the lizards and basketball print, plus the fact that it had absolutely nothing to do with hair care, made an excellent choice for the bottle in my opinion.
Save
Teaming up with an illustrator rather than a photographer was quite a refreshing change of pace for NARS. For their summer collection the brand collaborated with Greek artist Konstantin Kakanias to create a collection inspired by a weekend getaway to the French Riviera.
Aaaaand I just realized I'm missing 2 of the lip covers – there should be 4 total. How did I space on ordering those?!
Anyway, Kakanias shared his inspiration in a very short interview which shows him at work creating the illustrations. "I'm very happy Francois Nars gave me this opportunity to have an imaginary weekend, and to create this weekend with these women…I imagine them by the sea, I imagine them by the sunset in the south of France, their reflections on the water, hidden by leaves, having a glamorous yet chic and fun life and really capture the magical beauty."
Here are a couple of pieces from Paris fashion week back in the fall of 2013. While stylistically very different, the subject matter reminds me a little bit of Alber Elbaz's work for Lancôme in that it captures not just the clothes seen at fashion week but the atmosphere – in addition to what's coming down the runway, they depict scenes of the industry's most notable figures mingling and the never-ending attempts by paparazzi to catch them in action. The two also seem to share a sense of humor about the fashion world, which I always appreciate.
Kakanias also has experience with interpreting makeup looks, so the NARS collab wasn't unfamiliar territory. Check out these illustrations of the gold eye shadows seen at the spring 2014 runways.
What I'm most fascinated by though is his depiction of his alter ego, Mrs. Tependris, whom he introduced in 1996 for a New York Times Magazine article.Mrs. Tependris is "a caricature of an art collector and a high society doyenne who Kakanias uses as 'a metaphor for the state of contemporary art and its superficial reception by the public'". This character even has severalbooks chronicling her adventures.
Here are parts of her diary from the fall 2013 couture shows in Paris.
Prior to her turn at the 2013 shows, Mrs. Tependris hit the big screen in an animated short film called "Tependris Rising" in 2012, after a 4-year hiatus. “I love her, but sometimes I get angry with her and swear I’ll never draw her again, then out she comes again,” said Kakanias of the project, which really served as a marketing piece for L.A. label Co's fall 2012 collection. Mrs. Tependris's absence from the fashion world was explained by her being cryogenically frozen. She is so impressed with her rejuvenated appearance that she must get back to the runways, post-haste. I don't know what I love most in this film - the spider who recognized her during her departure from the cryogenics lab, Kanye's reaction when she announces she's back, the big underwater dance number at the end set to Bowie's "Let's Dance", or her response to the assistant when he asked if she was in the show: "I'M the show!" she says.
Mrs. Tependris was, of course, voiced by Kakanias. The idea of a female alter ego by a male artist also reminds me a little of Marcel Duchamp's Rrose Sélavy…I think it would be great if both she and Mrs. Tependris each had their own dedicated makeup collections. 😉
Getting back to the NARS collab, I admire the way Kakanias adjusted his style ever so slightly to express Nars' vision for his collection. While his other illustrations are, of course, fashionable, I think he upped the glam factor for Nars. These women seem just a tad more chic and sophisticated than what he's done previously. I also like the way he matched the collection's colors on their faces in the boxes for both the eye shadow and lip glosses, i.e. the models are wearing the enclosed shade. While I still think a collection featuring only Mrs. Tependris would be pretty baller, I'm happy with this.
What do you think of Kakanias's work and the NARS collab? And do you have an alter ego?
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
Save
I was browsing Anthropologie a few weeks ago and came across the latest collaboration for the store's Artist Studio line. This time Anthro teamed up with UK-based illustrator Lou Taylor for some truly fun summer goodies. More from Anthro's website: "Brighton-based illustrator Lou Taylor draws inspiration from midcentury fashion illustrations, Busby Berkeley dance routines and pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Patrick Caulfield. Her motifs repeat instantly iconic images against citrus-bright backgrounds for an eye-catching, joyful effect." In both the short video above and in the prints used for this collaboration I can definitely see these influences, particularly Busby Berkeley's "By A Waterfall" number from 1933.
I didn't buy everything but I sure wanted to!
How cute are these mini printed nail files?!
Taylor's illustrations are produced on a variety of items, with brooches being the most popular. Many of the prints for the Anthro collection were borrowed from her bather-themed Lido line.
One of Taylor's favorite muses is Carmen Miranda, who appeared on the Tahitian Monoi fragrance packaging for the Anthro line. Here she is in brooch form.
Some of her other work…we just need some Abbi and Ilana earrings and we'll be all set!
Here is the artist's ode to her favorite film, Pretty in Pink:
But I think the one that rings my bells the most is Taylor's Lipstick City items from her Pop collection, for obvious reasons.
Taylor tells Anthropologie, "A lot of [my artistic process] happens in my mind—I’m always planning and daydreaming. When I sit down to sketch, it’s pretty much a finished design. I create papercuts of my work first so I can play with patterns in real life as well as digitally…My mum is a painter and has been a source of constant inspiration in my life. I think I’ve always had a paintbrush or pair of scissors in my hand. I took the plunge and went full-time four years ago, and I’ve never looked back!" Here's to many more of her whimsical creations.
Will you be picking up anything from this collection? In addition to the Anthropologie items I have my eye on that lipstick necklace, or maybe the earrings (yes, she ships to the U.S.!)
Save
Save
Save
Save
I was searching for swatches of Lancôme's new cushion blushes when I stumbled across these delightful versions of the brand's Miracle Cushion foundation.
Unfortunately for me, these were exclusive to Indonesia to celebrate the product's launch back in October 2015. My only consolation is that the compact cases themselves were not limited edition – the designs were actually stickers to affix to the compacts. Created by Indonesian-born, Dubai-based artist Ayang Cempaka, the stickers were available at various launch events during October.
Ayang's lifelong interest in drawing is influenced in part by being surrounded by a family of artists. “My mother, Dyan Anggraini, is a painter who used to work in a cultural institution owned by the government. My grandfather is a painter and sculptor, while most of my cousins work in the art world—curator, ceramic artist, and even musician,” she says. After graduating from architecture school in 2007, she founded an accessories line called Cocomomo three years later. Then in 2013 Ayang wanted to focus more on her illustrations, so she launched a stationery line named Linoluna.
Some of my favorites:
As far as inspiration goes, Ayang explains, "My mom loves flowers, and I love flowers too. In Dubai, flowers [are] really expensive. Instead of buying flowers and those flowers will be wilt in 3 days, so I draw those flowers. I love pop colors, and pastel. I love pink. My references are old children story books. I love vintage children books. I can’t remember the names. And I love Kate Spade, and J.Crew. My favorite flower is Ranunculus. Besides, I look for inspirations on Pinterest, then search wedding bouquet." I can definitely see all of these in her work.
I really like her work but somehow felt I had seen it before. Turns out that it's quite similar to the illustrations of Anna Bond, owner of one of my favorite stationery brands, Rifle Paper Co.
Ayang is above, Bond is below – the flowers have nearly identical shapes.
Ayang on the left, Bond on the right:
I noticed there's some thematic similarity as well. Both artists enjoy making prints of various destinations.
Even the way they styled these two ladies is almost the same, down to the ribbon both are sporting in their buns, large round earrings and delicately rouged cheeks.
These two illustrators have actually met, according to this Flickr photo. I don't know if there's any other professional relationship beyond that, but I do find it very interesting that halfway around the world another artist has such a similar style. And I'm not the only one who noticed: after posting an interview with Anna Bond, this blogger remarks on the resemblance between the two (at least, that's what I gathered from Google Translate).
Getting back to the Lancôme compacts, a part of me wishes they weren't just free stickers only available at launch events but designs on the cases that were actually sold at counters – this way I might have a shot at getting my hands on them through e-bay! On the other hand, it's a rather novel marketing ploy that Lancôme went with something temporary like a sticker, and it's good that they collaborated with an Indonesian artist for something exclusive to the country. Much as I'd like to track these down for the Museum's collection, it's nice for a country to have something created just for them and not available anywhere else – makes it more special, I think.
Thoughts? And do you have a preference for the work of Ayang or Anna? I can't choose, both are totally adorable to me!
Shu Uemura's spring 2016 collection, Pastel Fantasy, is largely gone from their website to make room for the summer collaboration with Korean fashion designer Kye, but I thought I'd cover the cheerful little palette from the collection anyway.
As soon as I saw it I suspected there was an artist behind the floral illustration, but figured the U.S. website was once again hiding information about him/her. I was right – a quick search on the Japanese Shu site yielded the name Satoko Wada. The charming purple flowers are her take on Japanese hydrangeas.
Wada is a Tokyo-based artist who specializes in a particular type of illustration known as line drawing. While I couldn't find much information on her background, it seems she's a relative newcomer to the art scene, having only started drawing in 2009 and becoming a successful independent artist by 2012. I also couldn't find any information on how the collaboration with Shu came about, but Wada's work is a perfect fit for a pastel-themed spring makeup collection. Some of her other drawings:
My favorite:
In just a few years Wada managed to collaborate with other companies to create everything from textiles to posters and stationery.
I also found this video, showing Wada leading an informal wall painting session at furniture store Bo Concept in Yokohama, Japan.
What I am most curious about though are these oversize penguin cut-outs Wada made. Google Translate was, as usual, completely useless.
I love that for their beach adventure they're wearing leis.
From what I can piece together these two characters visit various locales throughout Japan and are the mascots for either a town called Shirahama or something for trains…but I really have no idea. I did check out trainart.jp, but still couldn't get any concrete information. Near as I can figure, it's some sort of collaborative art project where various artists decorate train stations, and I think Wada was the artist selected for 2015. But I still have no clue as to where Shirahama fits in. Maybe because there's a zoo/amusement park there called Adventure World that has penguins? Apparently it's the only place in Japan that successfully hatched an emperor penguin.
And I guess these little fellas have names, based on this photo.
It still doesn't explain how they ended up in forests and beaches, but it looks like an incredibly fun project nonetheless.
Overall, I can't say I know much about line drawing, but I do enjoy Wada's style. It seems to have a bit of a traditional, folk-art vibe but somehow appears modern at the same time. And I love that she works extensively with color rather than black and grey. Obviously, the "strolling penguins" show that she also has a great imagination (plus they remind me of my beloved Sailor Babo.) As for the Shu collection, in looking at Wada's online gallery, it looks as though she created a new design specifically for the collection rather than slapping on one of her older works, which I also appreciate. I somewhat regret not getting around to buying the palette for the Museum's collection now! I also think Shu could have done a much bigger collection and commissioned some other designs for cleansing oils, etc. rather than just one little palette.
Thoughts? And if anyone can explain the penguin mystery I'm all ears!
