Creative Director of Hermès Beauty, Gregoris Pyrpylis, discusses a brand-new bold gesture in the Hermès Beauty metier, Trait d’Hermès.
What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine?
I like having my shower, having a cup of coffee while getting a bit of news, and then trying to go to the gym. It doesn’t happen every day because sometimes, if you have a late dinner, then it’s not easy. But this is, I would say the average day for me. I think that when your body is fully awakened, your spirit and your mind can really follow, and it’s just the best way to be, and that’s what works for me.
What pillars of DNA define Hermès Beauty?
For me, it’s being a house of objects, being a house of colour. Colour is a whole universe – there’s more than 75,000 colour references, which is like an infinite palette. Then, of course, our personal quest for excellence in terms of ingredients, materials, everything we’re using, it’s as if you would buy a beautiful Hermès bag. We have the same approach. The approach of creating a beauty is really linked to the approach of all the other metier that have made Hermès what it is today. A house of almost 200 years old, Hermès Beauty has this capacity of reinventing every kind of metier every time. And many would say, a house of almost 200 years can be a bit classic, a bit heavy in the approach – but no, Hermès has this freedom, but also this capacity to reinvent and come always with something new that will reflect the era that we live in, but also looking always towards the future. It’s the love we have to create. Beautiful objects that last in time, the quest for the amazing and beautiful ingredients, the colour, but also the gesture. They are here to be worn by women and men who are looking to be themselves, but better, who are looking to be elevated by makeup, and not just to be masked or camouflaged by it. So, I think this sincerity is a very strong point of Hermès.
Trait d’Hermès is a celebration of colour. What is the inspiration behind this joyful and bold collection?
With this collection, I went back to my memory when I was a kid, when you are given a white piece of paper, crayons, and paint to colour and paint, and you are just free to design the way you want to express yourself. I wanted to convey this liberty of expressing yourself within a collection. I wanted to add colours that will spark a bit of your feeling – these feelings that you had when you were a child and you had this almost innocent freedom of creation to create who you want to be. It’s about not having the fear of experimenting, it’s feeling that everything is possible. When you see these collections in front of you, laying on your makeup counter, it’s an invitation to play with colour again, and it’s easier with the pencils, because practically they take much less surface when you apply it compared to a shadow that can be all over the eye, for example. So, it’s a very nice introduction for people who want to experiment with colour but are a bit afraid.
What aspects did you prioritise in creating this collection and were there any challenges you encountered?
Yes, for sure. For every development, every collection, there are certain challenges that we face. It’s easy to create a makeup product, it’s very challenging and difficult to create an Hermès makeup product, because our standards are extremely high. I would say that the most difficult part for me was at times, I would say, when I was developing the formula with the team, I couldn’t make my mind if I wanted a bold liner or if I wanted a light pencil that can stand only on the outer part of the eye. So, we said, why not do the same thing at once? I would say that the biggest challenge was to find the perfect balance between the waxes and the oils in the formula, so you have a long-lasting effect, something creamy to blend, yet firm enough to stand as an eyeliner. I would say the second challenge would be the choice of colours. We came up to 24 which is quite rational, but still, it’s a very big palette. As you can imagine, we didn’t just come up with 24, we developed more colours. But at the end, when you look at the palette, I think that everyone can find their own, at least one colour, that you can fall in love with.
When time is crucial, which product from Trait d’Hermès should we be reaching out for to save minutes and make it look like we’ve put effort?
Line and colour are the two main pillars of the collection. Creating a simple line just alongside your lashes. What I would suggest is, and you will see it also in the Le Trait d’Hermes campaign, I used two beautiful, contrasting colours to create a modern expression, then you put a bit of mascara. It’s easy because it’s eye-catching. It’s very impressive, yet discreet at the same time, and it looks like you’ve put a lot of effort and time.
Trait d’Hermès prompts creativity and experimentation. What do you want people using these products to see when they look in the mirror?
I want to see people who are not afraid of playing with colour. While I really do appreciate a beautiful nude makeup, with colour you can be a bit more expressive. Colour is a nice storyteller – it can say and reveal a lot about you… what message you want to pass that day, or how you feel, how you see the world, or how you want to be seen by the world. If you play a bit with colour, it will cheer you up and I think that’s something that we need these days. Makeup is all about celebrating, elevating and revealing your unique side, and being proud of that. It’s not about creating a makeup look that everybody’s going to wear, not just wanting to copy something that you just saw on social media.
Do you have a standout beauty icon in mind when you created Trait d’Hermès?
Personally, when I work as a makeup artist on my own, I have references of women who have made their mark in cinema or fashion. Hermès doesn’t have spokespersons. It’s because Hermès Beauty does not believe in one type of beauty. But to me, the Hermès woman who inspired this collection is someone sincere and is proud of who she is and who she wants to be fairly. I get inspired when I meet women who are so fearless, and they just don’t put themselves into boxes. They live their lives – they’re expressive in fashion and makeup in a very unapologetic way and have a free spirit.
How do you and Pierre Hardy, creator of objects for Hermès Beauty collaborate effectively?
So, when I work with my team and we develop a whole collection, and everything is in place and we have done the edit of the formula, the texture, when we know where we want to go, we will present the project to Pierre here in our office. I see Pierre every, I would say, 15 days to keep up with all the projects. We present the collection to Pierre, and what is very interesting is that immediately, either he has a piece of paper and his pencils or his iPad, he will, in front of our eyes, come up with an idea. Most of the time this is the idea that we will keep for the development of the collection. This is the time when we have the exchange and brief him about the inspiration of the collection. Pierre knows the house so well and so, he knows by heart what an Hermès object is and how important it is. He has this beautiful and creative way of understanding immediately what I want to pass on as a message with the collection. It’s very interesting that every time he gets to reinvent and create an object as it’s just it calls you to collect it.
What beauty trends look strong for FW24?
I’m not someone who believes in beauty trends. Back in the days when I started doing makeup, these trends were mainly from the runway shows, and that would be it for the next six months to come. Today, the trends are more ephemeral – the longevity is much shorter.
I can definitely say that there is a big trend when it comes to blush today. Personally, I think it’s one of the most beautiful makeup products to work with. A beautiful blush will just elevate your complexion in a beautiful way.
This season, we will see a lot of naturally derived colours on the lips, meaning it can be a beautiful beige that recalls clay or more transparent, sunny beige, or like a bitten-lip beige, a reddish beige. I think that it’s all about playing with different textures on the lips and when it comes to the eyes, we saw a lot in the shows, a lot of colourful mascaras or colour combinations that are strong and bold.
Which beauty products are seen as favourites in the region?
I would say that eyeliner, mascara, highlighter and lip products are the ones that are really appreciated in the Middle East. I think in the region, it’s all about assuming femininity and how you can get really beautiful. Colour is not as big as it’s in Europe, for the moment, but I think that women in the Middle East are very loyal to the products they like, and they buy. So, if they like the eyeliner or the mascara, they will stick to it for a long, long time. I like the fact that they assume what they like, they assume their femininity, and they are not afraid to show it and to express it through their makeup – and I find this inspiring, because it’s a very unique approach.
This is The Bold Issue – when have you had to be bold in trusting your gut and how did it pay off?
I would say, when I decided to become a makeup artist. It was a very bold moment, because my plan was to become an English teacher. So, I was studying in the University of Athens in Greece where I grew up, and when I discovered makeup, it was just a big revelation for me. It was a whole new universe opening its doors in front of me. And I think that was the boldest move I’ve ever done, just putting aside what I wanted to do for so many years, and then just following my passion. It’s something I discovered and fell in love with.
My second bold move was when I decided to move from Athens to Paris. In Athens, I had my career – I was working with many local celebrities and fashion magazines. Then when I had the opportunity to move to Paris and follow my dreams – my bigger dreams – it was really a big moment for me. Imagine that I was not speaking any French back then. I was 25 or 26 when I made the move and it’s something that I will never regret.
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