{"id":97889,"date":"2024-12-10T13:17:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T13:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=97889"},"modified":"2024-12-10T14:25:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T14:25:15","slug":"a-century-of-chanel-makeup-grazia-usa-winter-issue","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/a-century-of-chanel-makeup-grazia-usa-winter-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"A Century of Chanel Makeup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chanel\"
L’Et\u00e9 Papillon de Chanel (2013) photographed by Richard Burbridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gabrielle Chanel<\/a> was never one to follow trends. Rather, she set them. And just as she created the quintessential little black dress<\/a>, encouraged women to wear pants and fashioned handbags out of woven tweed, Mademoiselle entered the makeup game in 1924 with loose powder, blush and a heavier pigmented, creamier lipstick formula than anything on the market. Housed in a distinctive ivory tube with a unique metal slide to advance the bullet, a color collection was born.<\/p>\n

The Birth of a Makeup Movement<\/h2>\n

Indeed, like fragrance, which Chanel debuted in 1921 after commissioning perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a \u201cnew\u201d floral which would become the ubiquitous Chanel No.5<\/a>, the iconic designer believed that the art of maquillage could change one\u2019s mood. \u201cIf you\u2019re sad, if you\u2019re disappointed in love, put on your makeup, give yourself some beauty care, put on lipstick and attack,\u201d she\u2019s famously said. Chanel: The Allure of Makeup<\/i>, out now from Thames and Hudson, aims to explore why.<\/p>\n

The gorgeous coffee table book, a behemoth with 408 pages containing over 300 arresting archival images, takes a look back<\/a> at the evolution of beauty at the French fashion house. Written by journalist Natasha A. Fraser<\/a>, readers are taken on a journey that makes the case for Gabrielle Chanel as more than just a marketer, but a liberator of women. \u201cShe woke people up with her \u2018life is not a dress rehearsal\u2019 attitude,\u201d notes Chanel\u2019s global head of creative resources for fragrance & beauty Thomas du Pr\u00e9 de Saint Maur.<\/p>\n

\"Chanel\"
Chanel: The Allure of Makeup, $175. SHOP NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Symbolism of Chanel Color<\/h2>\n

Chapters unfold through color, a visual storytelling rich with symbolism and purpose. Of course, the shades include Black, White, Beige, Red, Pink, Gold and Blue \u2014 significant because they exist, like talismans, throughout the history of the house.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that most Chanel makeup, to this day, exists in high-shine black compacts and tubes. Mademoiselle chose to package the very first blushers in the 1924 launch collection in round compacts of black enamel. The hue \u2014 or rather the non-hue, according to the designer\u2014 represented what we\u2019d call today a vibe<\/i>\u2026 and was, perhaps, the driving force of the brand. Because central to Chanel\u2019s ethos was liberating women from frills and corsets, and the candy-colored frocks of the time. Under Mademoiselle\u2019s gaze, black shifted from a shade of mourning to one of undeniable elegance.<\/p>\n

\"Chanel\"
Akon Changkou in the Chanel Fall-Winter: Rouge Allure \u2018Instinct\u2019 campaign of 2022 shot by Tim Elkaim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another non-color beloved by Chanel is beige, inspired by trips to Deauville where the young designer experienced true love and later opened her first fashion shop in 1912. She even had the suede couch in her atelier dyed to match the sand at low tide in the seaside town. As Fraser writes, \u201cwith her taste and enthusiasm, Mademoiselle turned a supporting-role color into a lead.\u201d Ahead of her time, she developed a you-only-better skin-tint fluid in 1927, and a groundbreaking group of bronzing products, Collection Tan pour l\u2019\u00c9t\u00e9, in 1932, the erstwhile mother of the no makeup-makeup<\/a> movement.<\/p>\n

The opulence of gold shows up as threads in fantasy tweed fabrications, on the coromandel screens in her 31 rue Cambon apartment (of which she had eight!) and, of course, in makeup meant to accent eyes. The famous Leo once said \u201cI was born in the month of August. My good luck charm is gold.\u201d From 1924 on, gold was used in makeup packaging.<\/p>\n

Of every chapter, perhaps the one that reflects the import of Chanel\u2019s impact on beauty is the one focused on red. She couldn\u2019t launch lipstick in 1924 without having a red shade, her signature. This look is now revered as French Girl beauty<\/a>. And it\u2019s no accident that the brand\u2019s iconic true-red is called Pirate, reflecting the renegade power of its founder.<\/p>\n

\"Chanel\"
Patricia Van Ryckegham photographed by Karim Sadli for Chanel in 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barrier-Breaking Icons<\/h2>\n

Also a delight to discover: A history of makeup muses, from Mme herself to Vanessa Paradis, Kristen Stewart, Whitney Peak, Gisele B\u00fcndchen and, current face of Chanel No.5, Margot Robbie in imagery shot by iconic photographers from Horst P. Horst to Mario Testino and Inez and Vinoodh.<\/p>\n

Flip through the pages and the evolving imprint of each makeup creator through the years become clear \u2014 from Dominique Moncourtois in 1969 to today\u2019s wildly unbound Cometes Collective, who are redefining what classic means for a legacy brand.<\/p>\n

Books exist in print to both mirror the past and inspire the future; The journey of The Allure of Makeup<\/i> ($175, thamesandhudsonusa.com<\/span><\/a>) arms women with the agency to create their own look, their own destiny.<\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA USA\u2019<\/em>s Winter Issue<\/a> featuring cover star Natasha Lyonne<\/a>:<\/strong><\/h4>\n