Influence Peddler: KKW Beauty to Launch Mario Dedivanovic Collab

Ellen Thomas

Updated Tue, April 3, 2018 at 4:01 AM UTC

Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic has become an influencer in his own right — and he’s cementing that status with the launch of his KKW Beauty collaboration.

Dropping Thursday on kkwbeauty.com is a four-item collection consisting of products inspired by “classic Kim and Mario looks” throughout the decade they’ve worked together, said Dedivanovic.

The Bronx-born makeup artist is credited with cementing Kardashian beauty looks such as contouring, strobing and matte lips into the pop-culture lexicon.

Included in the KKW x Mario collection is a peach-y nude crème lipstick inspired by Kardashian’s signature go-to lip color, and two high-shine lip glosses in a sheer peach and sheer nude. There is also a 10-pan eye shadow palette comprised of matte and metallic shadows in universal neutral shades — including an electric cobalt color.

“Of all the trends that Kim and I have started, I never intended or planned for any of them to be trends,” said Dedivanovic. “This [blue eye shadow] is the only one I’ve planned and I was kind of hoping for it — I think the blue eye is going to be massive in 2018.”

Prices for KKW Beauty x Mario range from $18 for a lip gloss to $20 for the crème lipstick to $45 for the eyeshadow palette — or all four products can be purchased for $85.

Here, Dedivanovic talks to WWD about the making of KKW Beauty x Mario.

WWD: How did you come up with the products in this collaboration?

Mario Dedivanovic: Before Kim launched [KKW Beauty], she told me she wanted her first collaboration to be with me. So what I started to do on my own, before it became official, was go through all the archives of photos of our makeup looks over the past decade. Little by little, every day I would search for looks and I’d see which ones were our favorites and which ones were our followers’ favorites. Then I started jotting down the colors and getting color inspiration from there. With the eyes, we have all your classic Kim and Mario colors — the browns, golds, bronzes, the highlight color she loves on the inner corner of her eye and the brow bone.

WWD: Was there a discrepancy between the looks you and Kim loved and what her followers prefer?

M.D.: It’s mixed. When we started working together a decade ago, there was a really big glam moment. All of a sudden there was this glam girl with contouring and lashes and for some reason, people really resonated with that. Those people from back then — her die-hard fans — who have continued to follow her, they love the heavier glam moment. All the influencers — these girls and boys are obsessed with that era. And then there’s a whole bunch of other people who are the newer followers that really do love the more recent era, which has been more clean.

WWD: The collection is a tight edit. How did you determine sku count and colors?

M.D.: I wanted some key products where you could re-create any of Kim’s iconic looks over the past decade. Aside from contouring, it’s eyes and lips. I personally don’t like when people launch too many things at once — it’s overwhelming to me as an artist, because I get so many public relations packages. My biggest pet peeve is opening a box and seeing 20 products. It makes everything not special. I wanted to keep it as minimal as possible.

I knew I wanted to have a color, and when I started looking — we’ve done green, purple and blue moments — I felt she loved the most, and I did too, the blue moments. There was a time in particular when she wasn’t looking — we had no mirror and she was on her phone — I knew she wouldn’t allow me to do it, so I just did [a blue eye look]. She kind of freaked out and started looking in the mirror and she ended up really loving the look a lot. There’s been other times with color where she’s been hesitant and wound up really liking it a lot. Then I started thinking about the masses and all the women in my life — they’re the same way, they’re not typically going to wear a blue or bright color on their eyes. I thought, you know, I’ll put a gorgeous blue in the palette and maybe some day someone will be inspired.

When it comes to lips, for years I’ve had these different lip palettes that I work with. What I do when I’m working with clients is dip the brush almost unconsciously into all the colors and I start mixing it in my hand. I started re-creating that process and mixing all these random colors on my hand until I achieved this one desired color in my mind that I loved. So the lab re-created it. It’s a classic Kim and Mario color, [but] I use that color on all my clients — light [or] dark. I found that this color blends really beautifully with many different lip liners. I love a nude lip and Kim obviously loves a nude lip, but there are many different kinds of nude lips — the way to change that around is using your favorite lip liner.

I almost always mix two or three glosses. It’s usually a peach-y shade because Kim loves a peach-y nude. What the gloss does is it lets you put a lipstick or pencil on and if you feel it’s a little too much, it’s the perfect lip gloss to put over it and mute everything, make it more subtle.

WWD: What is Kim’s go-to look these days?

M.D.: She’s going a little more fun and playful. She went through a moment where she wanted less makeup and wanted natural. She did that and we did that and it’s funny because we both simultaneously always want the same vibe. When she went natural, we both wanted it really badly. I was so over the glam moment, I just wanted to take it all off. [But] she’s a glam girl at heart and always will be.

WWD: Do you think you’ll ever do your own line?

M.D.: I think in the future I will. But I don’t rush anything in my life and career, I take everything I do slowly. I feel it’s important to pay your dues and earn respect. I have such tremendous respect for Kim — I love her like I love my own sisters. Not only for what she’s done for my life and career — she’s had a massive impact on this whole industry. I wanted to make sure that I made her proud and I made something her fans and followers would love.

Launch Gallery: KKW Beauty x Mario Dedivanovic

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Influence Peddler: KKW Beauty to Launch Mario Dedivanovic Collab

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