If there was ever any doubt as to how important this region is to major brands, then upmarket fashion house Carolina Herrera just laid any uncertainty to rest with the announcement it will debut its first make-up line in Kuwait this November.
Called Herrera Beauty, the new line continues the brand’s love affair with colour, offering 36 shades in lipstick alone. With 16 shades in a matte finish, 12 in satin and eight in sheer, they carry enticing names such as Carolina Red, Drama Drama and Fabulous, shifting from bright berries and corals through to silky nudes and browns.
For skin, there are eight shades of setting and embellishing powders, from Deep Dusk to Spring Porcelain. All the products were developed with make-up artist Laura Parsons, to help emulate her signature lit-from-within glow.
The packaging, too, is dazzlingly colourful, with bold, geometric patterns designed in conjunction with the house's creative director Wes Gordon and founder Carolina Herrera herself. Trimmed with gold lettering and with separate "charms", such as jewel-like beetles that can be added, this is destined to be far removed from dull compacts left languishing in handbags.
As Herrera, brand founder and creative director of beauty, says: “Traditionally, make-up is something that you keep out of sight, whether on your bathroom shelf or in your vanity pouch. But it’s such a personal form of expression, why shouldn’t you wear it? Literally! We wanted to give women an opportunity to wear their make-up like a piece of fabulous jewellery.”
The campaign imagery shows models holding beautiful lipsticks, looped on to fingers, with tassels and charms hanging free. Lipstick as jewellery? Why not?
Christian Louboutin had the same idea a few years back with its lipsticks but, perhaps ahead of its time, the idea never really caught on. With these colourful new arrivals, maybe now the time is ripe and we can look forward to seeing handbags adorned not with overused Fendi Bag Bugs, but with Herrera Beauty lipsticks instead.
“I wanted to translate the joy and exuberance of our collections into the Herrera Beauty line. The idea that a dress or an outfit can lift your mood and bring you happiness is a simple yet powerful concept, and I feel that make-up should be the same,” Gordon says.
The exact date of the launch is yet to be confirmed, but Herrera Beauty will debut at the Harvey Nichols department store in The Avenues.
