Get ready to wear Christian Louboutin’s signature shade from head-to-toe with the launch of his new Middle Eastern-inspired lipstick collection.
When it comes to make-up, nothing rivals the power of a red lip. We reach for an emergency slick of crimson to feel instantly put-together before an impromptu meeting, while the pièce de résistance of our carefully-applied going out face is a pillar box pout. It’s instant armour. A big old dose of confidence, neatly packaged in a shiny little tube.
Someone who appreciates the transformative power of a red lip is shoe designer extraordinaire Christian Louboutin, who is expanding his beauty offering this month with a new lipstick and liner collection inspired by the formidable Queen Nefertiti.
“When a woman wears red lips, she is taking control of how others perceive her, and that message is very powerful,” Louboutin explained. Despite her status as an icon of power and elegance, Queen Nefertiti was not a natural beauty, and Louboutin says he admired her ability to enhance her looks through cosmetics and accessories, using lead to create the original smokey-eye, red dye to colour her pout and an elaborate headpiece to make up for her diminutive height. Her self-empowered approach to beauty is even said to have inspired Cleopatra’s cat-eye flick.
Behind the scenes of Christian Louboutin’s collection
Now our favourite shoe designer is giving us the chance to emulate these Egyptian icons with the launch of the new Christian Louboutin Beauté lip collection at Level Shoe District in Dubai Mall from September 1. The 36 colours – including the iconic red-sole inspired Rouge Louboutin – are available as Silky Satin, Velvet Matte and Sheer Voile finishes, while the five shades of nude liner feature a genius automatic sharpener hidden inside the lid, meaning that they’re always good to go.
The collection is Louboutin’s second foray into beauty, following last year’s coveted nail polish range that had us taking the stiletto-like spiked bottles to the salon for our manicure. It’s part of a growing trend for top fashion houses to bolster profits and expand their customer base through successful cosmetics launches; Tom Ford Beauty reportedly turned over more than US$275 million in retail sales last year, while Burberry expects 25 per cent growth in its beauty wholesale revenue in 2015.
Behind the scenes of Christian Louboutin’s collection
Part of what sets this new collection apart from other fashion house offerings, however, is some seriously luxe packaging; the Loubie lipsticks are designed not just as cosmetics, but as beautiful objets d’art. Encased in a black or gold vial topped with a studded crown and small ring, each piece can be threaded with a ribbon, and voila – it transforms into a chic necklace.
“I wanted to create a covetable object that is begging to be stolen,” Louboutin says. “Through that notion, the idea of lip as jewellery arose. The shape had to be familiar, yet unexpected. One of them has a texture reminiscent of a mermaid’s tail. The turret-like crowned cap is inspired by Middle Eastern antiquities and the Art Deco movement. The lip colour is also designed to lie in repose like a precious vial.”
For the creative design process, Louboutin adopted the same meticulous attention to detail he uses for his footwear. “With shoe design I tend not to think about seasons and trends. It’s more important for me to look at timeless shapes and how a woman’s legs will look. Jewellery design is similar. If the proportion and shape of a necklace doesn’t look right on the woman, none of the other adornment matters.” Empowering red lippie and a scene-stealer of a necklace… Monsieur Louboutin, you really have outdone yourself.
Lip Colour Dhs440 and Lip Definer Dhs190, available at Level Shoe District, Dubai Mall
Images: Supplied
Words: Julia Maile
