Gucci Is Relaunching Its Makeup Line With 58 Shades of Lipstick
The Gucci Beauty Instagram feed isn’t the account of a typical beauty brand. You won't see any product flat-lays, re-grams of influencers wearing product, or heavily photoshopped campaign photos. Since launching the account in fall 2018, the brand has been posting artists' illustrations of its Bloom fragrance, close-ups of its runway beauty looks, and lunch trays with lipstick-stained teacups.
Gucci Beauty's high-fashion grid sets the vibe for the re-launch of Gucci's makeup line under the fashion house's creative director Alessandro Michele. The line will makes its return with 58 shades of lipstick in 3 finishes: Rouge à Lèvres Satin, a satin finish, Rouge à Lèvres Voile, a sheer finish, and Baume à Lèvres, a translucent lip balm. All of the finishes have a subtle violet scent. The lipsticks retail for $38 each.
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When developing the shades, Michele kept inclusivity in mind, offering 10 shades of nude with various undertones along with nine reds.
All of the shades get their names from some of Old Hollywood's most famous lips. Michele drew inspiration from his favorite iconic films and their actresses, coining a black satin shade Crystal Black after Jean Harlow in Personal Property, a sheer bronzed sand Katrin Sand after Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil, and the clear balm Joslyn Clair after Joan Crawford in The Taxi Driver.
The star of the collection is 25* Goldie Red, a true-red with a neutral undertone that doesn't lean too blue or orange, available in both satin and sheer finishes. It was inspired by Michele's love of the color red, and his lucky number.
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When designing the lipstick tubes, Michele was also inspired by vintage glamour. The Rouge à Lèvres Satin is a gold tube with an Alessandro Michele-drawn Art Deco design etched into it, Rouge à Lèvres Voile has a Victorian-inspired white rosebud pattern on it, and the Baume à Lèvres has turquoise tube, chosen by Michele referencing the time before pink was assigned as a female gender marker post war.
Additionally, all of the lipsticks can be worn on other parts of your face as demonstrated by Thomas de Kluyver, newly-appointed Gucci global makeup artist, for a group of beauty editors at collection's launch event in New York. De Kluyver gave Dani Miller, lead-singer of punk band Surfbort and one of the campaign stars a graphic cat eye using the Crystal Black lipstick, straight from the tube. Next, he warmed up 25* Goldie Red on the back of his hand and dabbed it onto her lips with his finger. Then, he used Joslyn Clair as a highlight on her cheekbones. The finished look was very punk-rock (Miller even gave it the rock on sign of approval), but can totally be turned down a few notches for a more subtle vibe.
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Michele decided to kick off the relaunch of Gucci's makeup line with lipstick because he sees makeup as a way to express your character and personality, making your flaws part of the beauty narative, with lipstick as the ultimate tool. This includes leaving your lipstick smeared and on your teeth, as seen in the campaign video and images. Along with Miller, the Martin Parr-directed video stars models and members of the Gucci fam, Mae Lapres, Achok Majak, and Ellia Sophia Coggins. It's whimsy, fun, satire on '80s style commercials.
Yes, it's Gucci being the most Gucci.
The Gucci Makeup lipstick collection is available now at Gucci.com, the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City May 6th., and saksfifthavenue.com on May 29th.