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.
(images from marcjacobs.com and saksfifthavenue.com)
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.
(images from fashionphile.com, therealreal.com and chercoulter.com)
