The collaborative ‘After Dark Collection’ by Lancôme and Mert & Marcus features a make-up kit for eyes – a first for Lancôme – along with a range of eyeshadows, lipsticks and a highlighter-blur stick. Lancôme said the brightly coloured collection targeted “radically glamorous” women looking to create “dramatic” and “electrifying” looks.
Mert and Marcus have created a ‘visual universe’
Françoise Lehmann, brand president of Lancôme, said working with Mert and Marcus – two “talented and exceptional personalities” – had been an “exhilarating and passionate adventure”.
“Mert and Marcus are not only brilliant artists and renowned photographers, but they are also incredible beauty experts. I am extremely proud of this collaboration, the visual universe they have created and the innovative textures,” Lehmann said.
Mert and Marcus said they had never really been interested in “beauty in its original form” – something that had driven the direction of this collaboration.
“Somehow, what excited us over the past 26 years, was transforming and creating characters with light, make-up and stories, and this is what we tried to achieve with this collection,” they said.
Lady Gaga, famed for her music and fashion, also launched a coloured cosmetics line last year under her beauty business Haus Laboratories targeting “bravery and creativity”. The cosmetics range features all-over liquid shimmer powders and bright lip liners and glosses.
According to The NPD Group, glow and illuminating make-up was rising fast up the cosmetics ranks, particularly in the UK where the category had generated €2.47m in sales alone for the first six months of 2019. These products, it said, were gaining interest on social media and a number of strong colour palette and glitter launches had fuelled this.
The insatiable rise of luxury?
Last month, L’Oréal also announced a long-term license agreement with high-end Italian fashion house Prada to create, develop and distribute a luxury beauty line.
Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oréal Luxe, said the license to develop Prada-branded cosmetics provided the beauty major an “ideal complement to its portfolio of iconic brands”.
Luxury beauty had proven increasingly important for L’Oréal in recent months, with its Luxe division reporting dynamic growth in Q3. L’Oréal Luxe generated €2.75bn of the group’s total €7.18bn sales for the quarter, up 13.8% on like-for-like terms. Within the division, Lancôme’s new formula launch Génefique had performed particularly well.