The general process for this post was to try to write something, immediately get overwhelmed and move on to something else. Hence why it took me 5 years to come up with anything on NARS's holiday 2017 collection, which featured the work of Surrealist artist Man Ray. November 18, 2022 marks the 46th anniversary of the artist's passing, and since NARS's recent collections have been very lackluster I thought this is finally the year I get a post up about the Man Ray collab.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) there is a ton of information about the collection and Man Ray's work. I'm not going to delve too much into it because there are literally entire books on Man Ray, but I will highlight the artwork used in the NARS collection and the process behind it, along with some other connections between Man Ray and makeup outside of the collaboration. As with Sarah Moon and Andy Warhol, Francois Nars chose an artist that has inspired him for years. "You know it’s almost always the same the process [with these collaborations]. They’re always with people that inspire me either since I was a kid or for many, many years. I really pick them randomly, it’s pure attraction. I just think, 'Why don’t we do a collaboration with Man Ray?' It’s really people that have been influencing me a lot in my work, in my photography, in whatever I do. And people who I really love what they do. It’s very pure and simple." He approached the Man Ray Trust about using the artist's work for a makeup line, and was thrilled when they agreed.
Nars discovered the work of Man Ray as a teenager. The modernity of Man Ray's oeuvre as well as the range of subjects he captured for his portraits immediately caught Nars' eye. "I read that every time Man Ray received a visitor in his studio, he'd photograph them," he explains. "He couldn't help it. It could be a friend, his lover, the postman, his housekeeper. He loved taking photographs of anyone he ever met, which is something I can relate to. He was a great inspiration for me when I was starting out as a photographer…I always loved his portraits. That was something I kept in mind. My photography background influence is quite wide, but he had a very distinctive eye on photography and the way you photograph people. The lighting, the abstract feeling in his photographs, sometimes it became more like a painting—there was so much poetry. The poetic aspect in his photos is so interesting." Nars, a self-declared rule-breaker when it comes to makeup, also admires Man Ray's selection of unusual models, favoring those who did not possess conventional beauty but who were remarkable in their own way. "[I] remember the women in Man Ray's photographs were so dramatic in their looks and their choice of make-up. Man Ray was very daring in his casting, he was always searching for that type of unique beauty. I can relate to that, I don't tend to go for simple, pretty faces."
The use of makeup in Man Ray's photos strengthened their compositions despite (or maybe even due to) the absence of color. Nars points out that the makeup in Man Ray's work encourages the viewer to consider shadows, angles, contrast and the overall significance of the image rather than being distracted by vivid hues. The same principles can be applied to the face, i.e. color is not necessarily required to make an impact when the focus is on texture, placement, shapes, etc. "To me, something brilliantly coloured can look great represented in black and white. The lack of colour forces you to see something deeper in the object, but often just as beautiful. Make-up is similar. It’s not always about colour on the face. A very graphic, lined eye or defined lip creates a look that isn’t about colour at all. And, of course, some make-up – black eyeliner or a very dark red lip against pale skin – can appear almost black and white…As a make-up artist, I studied Man Ray’s models very carefully: the shape of a lip, the graphic eyeliner, the placement of the rouge on the cheek. The incredible thing about Man Ray is how his style still seems new, fresh, sharp, even today."
Dr. Wendy Grossman, an art historian and Man Ray expert who advised Nars on the collection, echoes his sentiments. She says, "Man Ray himself paid close attention to the way in which his models were made up. His radical cropping aesthetic led to dramatic images of lips, eyes, and hands, all of which draw the viewer’s attention to the components of the body most enhanced through the use of makeup. Man Ray was very precise and involved with the way his models were made up and staged for his photographs. Man Ray’s special talent was to bring out the unique beauty in each of them and find ways to add a 'surreal appeal' in the way he used lighting, shadows, camera angles to infuse his compositions with mystery and intrigue."
Indeed, Nars himself notes that trying the process of figuring out appropriate colors for the collection was an enjoyable one. "For me, part of the fun of looking at old black and white photographs is imagining what makeup colours and textures were used. Of course the models are wearing colour-probably black eyeliner, powder, dark lip colour-only we can't see it. I also like to imagine what colours Man Ray might have been drawn to if he was working today. And, almost as important, is the aesthetic and vision of beauty that Man Ray represented – it is bold and moody, and a little irreverent and edgy. That's what we have tried to capture in the shades of this collection." However, various shades of red as seen in the set below don't seem that daring; a deep eggplant shade or even black may have been more adventurous and representative of Man Ray's spirit.
Nars states his choice of Man Ray images for the collection were driven by "pure instinct, love and attraction." He was drawn to Man Ray's still life photos, but ultimately ended up selecting those that emphasized the face or certain body parts since they were more relevant to makeup. He also wanted to include Man Ray's most famous and iconic works, such as 1932's Glass Tears: "[While] many people might recognize the image, they may not know that it was Man Ray who created it, and also because as beauty images go, it's perfection." Appropriately enough, Glass Tears was used for a mascara ad.
Cosmecil d'Arlette Bernard mascara ad using Man Ray's Glass Tears, ca. 1934-1935 (image from elmundo.es)
Dr. Grossman explains how Man Ray became preoccupied with Miller's lips and how he incorporated them into much of his work after their split in 1932. "The lip motif began with Lee Miller, Man Ray’s model, muse and lover from 1929 to 1932. She had beautiful lips, which were featured in many of his photographs. She left him after a tumultuous affair, and he expressed his anger and hurt through an obsessive focus on her lips."
One of Man Ray's most famous images besides Glass Tears, The Lovers: Observatory Time (1936) was also used to sell makeup. It was exhibited at the end of 1936 in MoMA's "Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism" show. When the show closed the artist received a telegram from Helena Rubinstein requesting the painting. Man Ray states in his autobiography that he was "overjoyed" to let Madame borrow it for one of her stores in Manhattan. "[With] this windfall I’d be able to devote more time to painting in the future. After awhile, the painting carefully crated was returned to me followed by a letter of thanks from Madame Rubinstein. She had displayed it in her magnificent new beauty emporium on Fifth Avenue, featuring a new lipstick or some other beauty product. This I was told by some outraged friends. However, I wasn’t too upset; I was glad to have the painting back and showed it again in the Paris Surrealist show the next year."1
One of the more intriguing images chosen by Nars for the collection was a photo of his muse and model Adrienne "Ady" Fidelin. Ady was a dancer from Guadalupe and became the subject of nearly 400 of Man Ray's photos after they met in 1936. Dr. Grossman, whose upcoming book "Seeing 'Ady': Adrienne Fidelin, Man Ray, and the Recovery of a Black Surrealist Muse," presents an in-depth look at Ady and her relationship with the artist. She notes, "As with Man Ray’s other muses, Adrienne inspired him to create innovative images that drew on her engaging personality and unique attractive qualities. He found cause on more than one occasion to use her 'café au lait' skin tone as a compositional feature to play on the theme of black and white that permeated his photographic work."
The image that appears on the eyeshadow palette originally appeared in the September 15, 1937 issue of Harper's Bazaar. It was part of a larger collection of roughly 30 photos entitled "Mode au Congo" in which models wore an array of Congolese headdresses borrowed from a Paris gallery. In "Unmasking Adrienne Fidelin: Picasso, Man Ray, and the (In)Visibility of Racial Difference," Dr. Grossman explains the significance of Ady's Harper's Bazaar portrait. She points out that in a strange paradox, the exotification and racialization of Ady permitted her to be the first Black model in a leading American fashion publication. "The only model of color among those the artist posed sporting one of these headdresses, Fidelin is represented in all nine compositions in which she features in a manner that draws attention to her racial difference: bare shouldered (and bare breasted in several), outfitted with a tiger’s tooth necklace and ivory bangle, and seductively posed…This treatment is exploited in a spread in the September 15, 1937 issue of Harper’s Bazaar where selected images from this series frame an essay by the French surrealist poet Paul Éluard. In the full-page reproduction taking up one half of the spread, the Guadeloupean model is staged to evoke the fashionable 'African native' extoled in the article’s headline, 'The Bushongo of Africa sends his hats to Paris.' This fanciful projection of difference and the assimilation of Fidelin’s identity into a homogenizing notion of blackness literally and figuratively sets her apart from the white European models similarly crowned in Man Ray’s [other] photographs…Ironically, it is arguably this paradoxical treatment of Fidelin that led to the publication of the image even in the face of intransigent racial barriers in the fashion industry. This Guadeloupean woman in the guise of an African thus unceremoniously became the first black model to be featured on the pages of a major American fashion magazine." On the one hand, Nars' inclusion of Ady can be viewed as positive, since even former art history majors and Surrealism enthusiasts such as myself were not aware of her or the fact that she broke significant ground in the fashion world. On the other hand, it may have been more appropriate to use a less exotified image of Ady, iconic though it may be. Plus, if it was really an inclusive gesture meant to familiarize the public with Ady, the company would not have made the decision to sell the palette in a very limited market – to my knowledge, Love Game was only available in the U.K.
In any case, another interesting cosmetics connection to consider is that Man Ray himself dabbled in makeup, frequently painting the face of Kiki de Montparnasse, his lover from 1921-1929. According to biographer Neil Baldwin, "[Man Ray] designed Kiki’s face and painted on it with his own hand. First Man Ray shaved her eyebrows completely, and then he applied others in their place, varying the color, thickness, and angle according to his mood. Her heavy eyelids, next, might be done in copper one day and royal blue another, or else in silver or jade."2 Scholar Susan Keller notes that by applying her makeup in this way, Man Ray was helping to develop a public persona for Kiki rather than portraying a likeness of her. "Instead of representing her, Man Ray was producing her, creating a public mask that was impossible to view separate from her, unlike a portrait on canvas, where the original and the copy (the woman and the portrait) are easily distinguished."3
Man Ray also applied Kiki's eye makeup for his short 1926 film Emak Batia. The artist explains: "[Kiki's] penchant for excessive makeup gave me the idea. On her closed eyelids I painted a pair of artificial eyes which I filmed, having her open her own eyes, gradually disclosing them. Her lips broke into a smile showing her even teeth. Finis – I added in dissolving letters."4
Keller explains how Man Ray elevated makeup to a true art form. "[Man Ray’s] cosmetic games were hardly unique; countless women have used and still do use makeup to reinvent or to stabilize their appearances every day. Man Ray’s status as an artist, however, and his Surreal play with the conventions of makeup, serve to expose by making marvelous women's everyday behavior usually seen as too trivial or mundane to be contemplated in any depth…In keeping with the Surrealist themes of dreams and the unconscious, Kiki’s fantastic makeup shows her both literally awakening and what might be seen as a metaphoric awakening from the deadening world of everyday assumptions, moving from the world of the real to the more-than-real or surreal, just as the film itself was supposed to shock audiences out of their mundane lives into a receptivity for more utopian possibilities."5 This makes sense; however, I still think the idea of makeup as art in this case would not have happened if a Surrealist woman artist, such as Méret Oppenheim or Leonora Carrington, had painted Kiki for the film. The popular perception at the time was that makeup is art only if a man does it. It's akin to food preparation in that women are cooks but men are chefs.
As with all artist collabs, there was speculation about what Man Ray would have thought of his work appearing on a makeup collection. Personally I agree with Dr. Grossman that he would have been flattered, especially given his positive endorsement of Helena Rubinstein putting his art in a store window. "I think Man Ray would appreciate seeing his photographs embraced in this fashion. It would probably not surprise him that the invitation came from a Frenchman; he always felt that the French had a much greater appreciation of his vision and creative practice than did people in his native United States."
Now for a special treat. Via one of the Museum's board members, I had the incredible honor of talking with Dr. Grossman herself about this collection! She was also kind enough to share a photo of the PR box she received from NARS. Truly museum-worthy!
(image courtesy of Dr. Wendy Grossman)
What do you think of this collab and Man Ray? Would you like to see a deep dive into Surrealism and makeup?
1Man Ray, Self-Portrait (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963), 257-258. For more on Rubinstein's usage of Man Ray's work, see Marie Clifford, "Brand Name Modernism: Helena Rubinstein’s Art Collection, Femininity, and the Marketing of Modern Style, 1925-1940," (PhD diss. University of California, Los Angeles, 1999).
2Neil Baldwin, Man Ray, American Artist (New York: C.N. Potter, 1988), 107.
3Susan Lynn Keller, "Making Up Modernity: Fashioning the Feminine in Early -Twentieth -Century U.S. Culture" (PhD diss., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2008), 238, ProQuest (3330475). By contrast, Lee Miller did not allow Man Ray to "create" her by allowing him to apply makeup: "Some said that Man had 'created' Kiki by designing bizarre makeup and painting it on her – even shaving off her eyebrows and replacing them with new ones at odd angles. Lee needed no embellishment, nor would she submit to being redesigned." From Lee Miller: A Life by Carolyn Burke, (New York: Knopf, 2005), 81.
4Man Ray, 272.
5Keller, 238.
Flowers get a bad rap for being predictably present in every spring collection, but I can't complain, especially when they're as gorgeous as the ones gracing the packaging for NARS's collaboration with London-based fashion designer Erdem Moralioglu. I must say I haven't seen a beauty collection in a long time that so completely and cohesively represents a designer's work. I'll get to Erdem's line towards the end of this post so you can see for yourself just how perfectly the NARS collab encapsulates it, but I'm going to start off with the makeup. I'll relying heavily on interviews with Erdem, since, as usual, I find that the designer/artist's own words explain their vision better than I can (and I'm also lazy). Let's dive in!
Both the boxes and the palettes themselves are covered in Erdem's signature juxtaposition of bold and delicate blooms. Specifically, he chose not his favorite flower (anemones) but dahlias and lilies, since "dahlias are fiery, and the lilies can be equated with beauty."
Erdem's vision for NARS stemmed partially from his love of exotic flowers, particularly this photo of actress Molly Ringwald taken by Sheila Metzner for Vanity Fair in 1984. "I was thinking about this idea of a strange flower and I wanted to create a range of makeup that had an ethereal and slightly surreal beauty to it."
Erdem expands on the notion of a "strange flower" in severalinterviews. A key element was the idea of contradiction – how some flowers can be beautiful but deadly at the same time, and also the harmonization of flowers that bloom in different seasons. "I find myself looking at nature and seeing [contradiction]. For example: the black dahlia. There’s something about it that makes it beautiful, but at the same time it can be dangerous or poisonous. I find those contradictions in nature quite interesting, so that was my starting point for the name…At first it was kind of a working title when I was trying to gather all my thoughts as to what the collection was going to be, and then as it developed it became [Strange Flowers]. I liked this idea of contrast and tension, and I think a flower [has that]. For example, a rose is a symbol [of] softness and femininity and beauty, but then things like a black dahlia [has] a strangeness for a flower. I was interested in exploring the idea of a flower being quite complex and odd and dangerous and beautiful at the same time—the spectrum of it. The softness of certain colors and the oddness and exoticness of others." He adds that dividing flowers into the four seasons "helped guide me in terms of thinking about palette, and even thinking literally about certain plants that grow in certain times of the year and figuring out how certain colors could work with each other. Once those parameters were set in my mind I was very interested in exploring odder shades and new shades as well and that’s how all of these range of colors in the collection came about."
The packaging for the cases themselves was changed to a pale dusty blue, the same custom shade painted on the walls of the Erdem store in London. I pictured the blue packaging sitting in my blue Mayfair store and liked that image," he says.
My photos don't show it well, but the color is very close to the store walls.
The idea of juxtaposing opposites was fully realized in the color selection for the collection. There are delicate pinks, such as the pale lavender Love Me Not blush, sitting along side dramatic dark blue and purple eyeshadows. "The idea of contrast runs through all of my work – the aspect of the feminine juxtaposed with something slightly dark, which is an extension of my aesthetic. The colour palette (of Strange Flowers) combines delicate colours, which may be more associated with the feminine, such as lilacs and blush (seen in the lipsticks and slightly pearlescent blusher), but contrasts them with more unexpected hues like yellow or deep burgundies (find more of these in the eyeshadow palettes, which are highly pigmented with a velvety-matte finish)." Different textures also highlighted Erdem's desire to express the notion of contradiction; the highly pigmented lip powder palette is a stark contrast to the sheer, weightless Carnal Carnation lipstick. "Developing these colors that were so saturated and then playing with sheerness and the idea of transparency and how certain pigments are completely opaque, but if you look at the rose on the lip palette powders, there’s so much pigment in it. Even the highlighting pencil has so much pigment in it, but something like the Carnal Carnation lipstick has that kind of sheerness to it, which is really beautiful.” In this way Erdem managed to create something for everyone. "I think my woman is a lot of different women, and she’s got a lot of different characters. I’ve worked with Nars for so many years (on my runway shows), and sometimes the makeup looks are very clean and fresh, and sometimes they are bold. It just depends on the mood of the collection."
The lip powder is one of the items inspired by one of Erdem's closest family members. "My earliest memory of makeup came from my mother. She never wore any makeup on her face, but before she would leave the house she would always put on a very specific shade of red lipstick, and then she could face the world. I remember as a 5-year-old creeping towards her bedroom and looking at her lipsticks and lipstick palettes. I remember thinking her lipstick brush was so fascinating. The ritual of it all was so interesting; there’s something incredibly powerful about it. The idea that you can put something on and immediately feel different."
The other family-inspired item was the blotting sheet compact, which drew on fond memories of his twin sister and her friends using blotting sheets in high school. "I loved how the paper felt and smelled – there was something so tactile about it…It was something that was particularly useful in the summer. And actually, in places like Singapore, I think blotting paper is such a practical thing. The idea of providing a matte base without any kind of makeup is really beautiful. It leaves you a lot of space to play with, such as creating a beautiful focus on the lip or eyes. I love the idea of how you can just keep it in your handbag and apply it whenever. It’s a really chic way of touching up your face without the idea of piling on any makeup…There’s something so beautiful about this idea that it wasn’t really makeup, but something you do just do to feel together. Considering this comes out in the spring, it felt like such a practical thing to include. It’s a tool to support everything else."
As for the rest of the packaging, it's filled with beautiful details. I love the print on the inside of the boxes.
Even the plastic overlays are brimming with flowers.
As for how the collaboration came about, it was the usual fashion/makeup collab path: NARS has been working with Erdem on his runway shows since 2013, so it was a natural fit. In true NARS style, Erdem was given free reign to come up with the colors and even new products – the lip powder, blotting sheets and highlighter stick are all new for NARS, and they were innovations Erdem enjoyed coming up with. The process to develop the collection took two years and seemed to be truly a labor of love. "The Nars aesthetic is forward-thinking; it’s chic, it’s strong. I think François is such an extraordinary visionary. Nars is known for its innovation, and people go back to it again and again, which is a testament to their quality as well. They’re so open-minded to different products. I collaborated on every aspect of it, from working closely with the product developers for the new products to the colors and formulas of the lipsticks. We were allowed to do the campaign imagery from London, and I got to work with my favorite florist and photograph it. It was wonderful…The lip powders are something I’m really proud of, because that was something that didn’t exist in the Nars range. [It was] based on a look that was created for a fashion show that was done years ago. The color is so beautiful and intense. It took a long time, and it was a lot of back-and-forth."
I don't want to spend too much time on Erdem's clothing since I want to focus on the NARS collection, but I think his personal background and aesthetic are essential to fully understand the choices he made for the makeup, so here's a brief bio and a little taste of his work. Between growing up with a British mother and Turkish father and being raised in Montreal, Erdem was endlessly fascinated by the cultural differences in his family. This experience was a key influence in his desire to express contrast through his clothing. According to this article, "Holidays were spent visiting one grandmother in Birmingham and the other in Antakya in Turkey…this enthusiasm for contrast and contradiction now informs his work – the classic dresses with the futuristic prints, the overtly feminine collections with a dark underbelly." He earned an MA from London's Royal College of Art and launched his own line within a year of graduating. His frocks are favored by a range of A-list clients (Natalie Portman, Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama), and last fall, he created a capsule collection for H & M, for which, as with the NARS collection, memories of his mother and sister served as inspiration.
As for his devotion to flowers, it's part of a larger interest in the myriad ways in which femininity is represented. "I’ve always been fascinated with femininity and women, even as a child. Maybe it has to do with growing up with someone who is of the opposite sex. I also grew up without any sense of 'that’s for girls, and that’s for boys.' I just had an odd fascination with flowers, and I think it’s partly because of my fascination with the language of femininity. There’s a wonderful power to that. Yes, I am interested in nature and botany, but what a flower implies is more interesting to me." And while we often think of flowers as fragile, Erdem sees feminine strength: "They're resilient, and they regrow," he says. This still sounds like an oddly gendered perspective – flowers don't necessary have to be feminine and I'd argue Erdem's clothing is overtly, traditionally girly for the most part – but he does seem to be shifting towards more a gender-bending outlook, at least with the H & M collection. "I loved the idea of creating a group of clothes for men that could be absorbed by women too. It’s great to think of someone taking the fleece from the men’s collection, and wearing it over the sinuous sequinned slip dress, or a man taking the frilled collar shirt from the women’s line, and wearing it with tailored pieces. I wanted the collection to be very much an open proposal…It was also fascinating to see how flowers worked on men’s clothing.” I'd argue that if one really wanted genderless clothing, you wouldn't design two separate women's and men's lines, but hey, it's a start.
Anyway, here's some of Erdem's regular line, starting with the spring 2018 collection. I can definitely see how he plays with pairing opposites, relishing that push/pull quality that makes his designs unique. Sometimes it's incredibly bold and vibrant blooms alongside frilly lace details, or a powerful silhouette adorned in smaller, more delicate floral patterns. I can't say any of these are my taste, but I certainly admire the dichotomy of the various elements.
His earlier prints remind me quite a bit of Paul & Joe's, but with a completely different vibe.
As with most designer collabs, looking at the clothing brings the makeup full circle to me. I bought the NARS collection because it was pretty but had no clue who Erdem was or what he was about. Even though I had a clearer sense upon reading the interviews with Erdem about the NARS collection, I wanted to see for myself whether the clothing tells a different story than what appeared in the makeup. I was pleased to see that it was indeed an accurate embodiment of Erdem's aesthetic. In fact, I'd say this is one of the best designer collaborations I've seen due to how thoroughly the spirit of Erdem was represented. His approach to fashion carried over seamlessly to the makeup, and every single shade and detail seemed meticulously planned to adhere to his vision: a study in contrasts.
What do you think about this collection and Erdem's designs?
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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?
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?
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It's just a regular Orgasm blush with a stupid cheap printed plastic overlay…it's still the same pinky-gold cult favorite as before!
But it's got a new box! I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it!!!
The clip above is the first thing I thought of as soon as I saw this new, "special edition" of NARS's famous Orgasm blush. Did it stop me from buying it? Of course not. It's the same exact blush, just in a bigger size and with a photo of a chic model in sunglasses. The photo, mind you, is only printed on the plastic overlay, not on the blush itself.
All of the things I've read about this talk it up as a "collaboration" between Nars and Fabien Baron of Baron & Baron. Who is that, you ask? Baron is a hugely successful art director who works with the world's biggest fashion and beauty brands. The problem is that he has been Nars's own art director for many years – he is responsible for everything from the design of Nars' boutiques to his Makeup Your Mind book to the minimalist black packaging. Playing this up as some sort of new, special partnership is completely misleading. Additionally, Baron is also Editorial Director for Interview so, obviously, a close comrade of photographer Steven Klein (ugh) and Baron was the one who helped select the images that went on the Nars/Steven Klein collaboration packaging. I do find it interesting that in his Instagram feed he chose to post this photo from the December issue of Interview rather than the offensive one that actually ended up on the cover. But I suppose that given the aforementioned aspects of the brand (I mean, I loved the design of the L.A. boutique), Baron isn't all bad. As another example, I did find this captivating video that he directed for the debut of NARS Larger Than Life eye liner in 2011.
Anyway, while this blush wasn't the most innovative thing NARS has done packaging-wise, it's a vast improvement over previous collections. And I'm looking forward to the holiday 2016 Sarah Moon collaboration – hopefully it will be on par with the Warhol collection.
Thoughts?
Welp. This is what I get for not thoroughly researching an artist before purchasing things from a makeup collection they worked on. I was initially excited for Nars' collaboration with fashion photographer Steven Klein, thinking that it would be a significant improvement over 2013's reprehensible Guy Bourdin collection. The crazy launch party in particular definitely piqued my interest – this guy sounded out there! And once I saw the images on the Nars collection packaging, I thought, this is great. Klein's photos immediately grab your attention and stay with you long after you've turned away, and the makeup in some of them is truly dazzling. They're incredibly strange and some are fairly scary, but I wasn't seeing anything downright offensive – if any of them are disturbing, it's more in a surreal, horror-movie sort of way. Totally bizarre imagery on the packaging and fantastic new colors? Sounds like a perfect collab to the Curator.
There was also the Abnormal Female set, which consists of several lip pencils in a bullet/lipstick hybrid shaped package. I thought it would make a great display piece, plus I love the idea of lipstick as weapon – it's like a secret, albeit imaginary, way of feeling protected. I was a little dismayed by Klein's description of the packaging, however: "It's inspired by a lighter I have, which is based on a bullet…I turned it over to François's team and said, 'Do this.' I use bullets and guns in lots of my pictures. And there’s such an interesting parallel between bullets and lipsticks—they have so many similar aspects but are so different. I thought it was interesting—the idea of violence meeting lipstick." I prefer my interpretation – lipstick bullet as a sort of protective armor rather than a possible glorification of violence – and bought the set regardless. But Klein's ideas should have tipped me off that something was askew, and I should have started my research way sooner…because in early December this happened.
I had been reading about the backlash surrounding this photo on the many feminist blogs I follow and was pretty angry. And as you can imagine, my heart sank when I realized this was the same photographer that Nars had collaborated with. There are a lot of reasons why this is a truly offensive photo, and others have expressed why more eloquently than I ever could (click here and here for some great responses) so I will leave it at that. At first I thought, well, maybe this is the first time Klein has done something like this and will apologize for an incredible lapse in judgement. I mean, that doesn't make it right, but at least he'll acknowledge that he made a big mistake and won't do it again. (He didn't, of course…and naturally Interview defended the photo and claimed that Klein was referencing British artist Allen Jones. Check out this piece as to why that's a problem in and of itself.) While I bought the Nars items well before the Interview cover was released, I still feel crappy for supporting Klein's work. If I had just done my due diligence way back in October, I would have known that posing able-bodied models in wheelchairs is nothing new for Klein, and wouldn't have purchased anything.
Plus, if Klein is doing this to make a stir, I can tell you that the shock value goes down considerably if you repeat the same setup. So it's not even groundbreaking – just a tired old trope that's still insulting any way you slice it. (As a side note, the first photo in the blog post where I found the image below also depicts a model in a wheelchair, and it was photographed by a designer whose makeup line I like – et tu, Tom Ford?)
I also came across this little gem for another issue of Interview magazine, this time in 2012. Way to fetishize mental illness! There is still a huge stigma against people with mental health disorders, and to use their suffering as inspiration for fashion shoots is in such poor taste I can't believe anyone allowed it. Additionally, I wonder if Klein is aware of the haunting histories of certain mental health facilities, some of which abused/neglected patients and gave unscrupulous doctors free reign to torture them by using them as guinea pigs for painful experimental treatments. Why you'd glamorize those histories is beyond me.
I also don't appreciate Interview's glossed-over description of the theme: "Strict institutional white is the new order this season. Clinically reserved and precisely tailored with maniacal attention to detail. Inspired by the legend of an actress who refused to conform through her descent into madness, Steven Klein conjures an imaginary tale of discipline, betrayal, will, and obsession." Between this drivel and the wheelchair non-apology, I'm pretty sure I hate this publication even though I've never read a single article.
Getting back to the Nars collection, I can't for the life of me figure out why he went with such a vile photographer for a second time. Nars told Allure that it was his "pure love and pure admiration for [Klein's] work," adding, "I love his dark side. I love his sophistication. I love his strength. His pictures definitely don’t leave you—they make you react. I love people who have extremely strong imaginations and don’t compromise. And Steven’s photographs are loaded with makeup. And looks. He’s not a photographer who shoots women with nothing on their face." That's all well and good, but, newsflash, Francois: you can collaborate with an artist who has a strong imagination and doesn't compromise and makes people react without being insulting, something I can prove in the new year when I unveil another series for the Museum.
This whole thing got me dreading a 2016 holiday collection. Who's the next asshole photographer Nars is going to team up with next, Terry Richardson? Unfortunately I think it's a possibility, based on what else Nars had to say to Allure: “It’ll be for holiday 2016 and it will be with another photographer. Someone alive and really, really famous and iconic. That’s all I can say." Fingers crossed it's not Richardson. On the plus side, Nars added, "That will probably be the last photographer for a while, though. Then I want to move on to other artists.” Hopefully he'll get back to the likes of Warhol.
TL;DR: I feel bad for buying stuff from this collection. To Steven Klein: fuck your ableist bullshit. To Nars: shame on you for admiring this douchecanoe, let alone putting his images on your products. It was highly disappointing that for 2 holiday collections Nars went with a photographer who believes that such derogatory imagery is edgy and cool.
What do you think?
I came across this promo image for new NARS nail polish line and couldn’t take my eyes off it. A variety of beautiful colors languidly streaming downwards…where have I seen this before?
Aha! I remember being struck by this ad for German brand Uslu Airlines way back in 2010:
In turn, both of these ads remind me of the work of Morris Louis, whom I discussed in my post on the Uslu Airlines ad. So I won’t rehash it here – I’ll just give a quick refresher so you can see for yourself. The new NARS ad has a similar approach to the 1960 painting Where by Louis, although the latter has slightly more subdued, desaturated shades, and the stripes of color aren’t quite nestled right against each other.
The drips at the ends also are reminiscent of this untitled work by Louis:
There is just something so appealing about seeing beauty products presented in a high-art fashion. Or am I the only one who drools over more artsy ads? Tell me what you think.
Um, wow. I was pretty excited for the latest NARS collaboration with fashion photographer Guy Bourdin…until I actually started looking at his portfolio. As a feminist I found it troubling, to say the least. As someone who enjoys art and fashion, I can appreciate how groundbreaking Bourdin was in terms of fashion photography. And I understand why Francois Nars chose him as inspiration for this collection, as it was Bourdin's work that inspired Nars to become a makeup artist – the way he captured the rich, saturated hues in many of his photos was truly genius. I recognize that the collection isn't meant to glamourize violence against women but rather to celebrate the bold colors in Bourdin's work.
HOWEVER.
I'd say about half of the Bourdin photos I've seen portray violence against women, and another sizeable portion seem to signify that women are nothing more than blow-up dolls to be used and discarded. I could even consider overlooking these disturbing images if they were part of a larger body of work that didn't glorify dead/objectified women, but I found nearly all of his photos to be fairly repugnant. I could also perhaps consider separating the images from Bourdin himself – just because his photos dehumanize women doesn't necessarily mean he is a misogynist. Unfortunately, that's not the case on that front either. He was just as anti-woman as you would suspect from his photos. Maybe it's because I'm from a different generation. In the '70s these images would have been considered "daring" and "pushing the envelope". In 2013, using offensive pictures to sell something isn't a novel idea. The "edginess" of showing a woman stuffed headfirst into a trashcan has long worn off; this image and others like it are solely abhorrent.
In my cursory research on the matter I found that I'm not alone in my dismissal of this collaboration. These bloggers said it better than I could, so rather than write any more about this I encourage you to read their thoughts on the topic: Temptalia and InTruBeauty.
What do you think? Will you be passing on this collection?
This was a nice little surprise for spring – a collaboration between high-end French shoe designer Pierre Hardy and NARS. In my shoe-buying fantasies I'm more of a Louboutin/Prada girl, but I do appreciate the architectural, geometric quality of Hardy's work (more on that later).
The collection consists of 6 nail polish duos and two blushes. I picked up the duo in Sharks because of the beautiful lemon yellow. I actually would not have bought it though if it hadn't been for the very clever packaging.
Once I saw that the nail polishes were arranged on opposite ends and that they came with their own tiny dust bag (just like shoes!), I was smitten.
I was too lazy to swatch these but you can find swatches here.
Here are the two blushes in Boys Don't Cry and Rotonde:
So what's up with the 3D cube pattern? Simply put, this cube motif has become Hardy's signature in both his fall 2012 and spring 2013 collections. From the landing page at his website…
I'm still on the fence about the blushes. On the one hand, I like that NARS didn't go too literal and just put the cube pattern on the blush rather than embossing one of Hardy's actual pieces, like a shoe or a bag on it. On the other hand, that might have been pretty cool! The cube pattern is great, but by itself on a blush there's nothing that denotes it as being distinctly Pierre Hardy.
In any case, I was extremely impressed by how the colors in NARS collection so closely aligned with those in Hardy's spring 2013 lineup. The blush colors are similar to these bags:
The lavender and lemon yellow from the Sharks duo is borrowed from several pairs of shoes, including the ones in the promo image:
All in all, a well-done capsule collection. Did you pick up anything from it?
You didn't think the NARS/Warhol madness was over at the Makeup Museum, did you? How silly! Because this collection is so extraordinary and to tide myself over until I can launch the holiday 2012/winter 2013 exhibition in late December, I'm devoting a small, special pre-holiday exhibition to the NARS Andy Warhol collaboration. Enjoy!
You can read about all of the objects included in this exhibition here and here.
