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Marc Jacobs Beauty debuts in Singapore

If you think you can get away with a fabulous outfit without putting your best face forward, you’re going to find yourself in the bad books of Marc Jacobs.

If you think you can get away with a fabulous outfit without putting your best face forward, you’re going to find yourself in the bad books of Marc Jacobs.

To the renowned fashion designer, who has been in the business since 1986, wearing make-up “is as important (an) accessory as shoes or bags”.

It was probably no surprise, therefore, when he revealed his debut make-up line, Marc Jacobs Beauty, last August. Sold exclusively at Sephora North America and selected Marc Jacobs stores, the brand has since travelled to Sephora stores in the Middle East, Milan and France. It finally lands in South-east Asia, specifically, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, this month.

Empowering women was what he had in mind when he conceived Marc Jacobs Beauty. “I wanted to encourage women to indulge in the transformative process of exploring a different spirit or sensibility each day,” said Jacobs.

“I’ve always felt a beauty line would be a natural extension of the Marc Jacobs fashion line. I am happy I was able to find Kendo, (a manufacturing branch) from Sephora, to help me develop this line. This partnership has been so successful.”

Was his decision to leave Louis Vuitton as its Creative Director influenced by his decision to start Marc Jacobs Beauty? Jacobs declined to say. (“No answer available. Marc doesn’t comment much on his decision to leave Louis Vuitton,” his rep informed us.)

However, Jacobs, who turned 51 on Wednesday, did say the launch of his beauty line came about only when everything was in its right place. “My team and I wanted to wait until we could not only do it right, but also offer a unique point of view on beauty,” he said in an email interview. “We found the Kendo team from Sephora in 2011 and we knew we had the right partner who could bring my vision to life.”

Spread across 17 categories, Marc Jacobs Beauty offers a grand total of 147 products, from concealers and foundations, to eye shadows and lipsticks, and brushes and nail lacquers. Prices start from S$32 for a mint-flavoured lip balm to S$90 for a delicious seven-shade eye palette. They all arrive sleekly packaged in a high-shine black lacquer finish, with the inspiration for that design coming from his “beautiful lacquered Art Deco Jean Dunand coffee table that is really glamorous and timeless”, said the designer.

“This same Jean Dunand coffee table inspired Kendo and I to create a shade called Blacquer — the deepest, shiniest black ever created.”

Blacquer is available in the form of the Lash Lifter Gel Volume Mascara (S$40), Magic Marc’er Precision Pen Eyeliner (S$39) and Highliner Gel Crayon (S$36).

Many of the names behind Jacobs’ beauty products originated from artistes such as Nirvana and Nicki Minaj, as well as movies like Cabaret and The Wizard Of Oz.

“Indeed, a lot of the shade names were references to movies, movie heroes, lines in movies, music, and other iconic things that are amusing to me,” he said.

“In the case of Cabaret, for example, there’s a green for the character Sally Bowles that inspired me to create the shade Sally for Enamored Nail Lacquer (S$32),” he continued. “From The Wizard of Oz, I took inspiration from that clear poppy red that is so iconic from Dorothy’s ruby slippers, to create Surrender Dorothy LoveMarc Lip Gel (S$42).”

Marc Jacobs Beauty will be available from April 17 at all Sephora stores.

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