On a balmy summer evening at Indochine, the renowned New York City lounge nestled demurely between The Public Theatre and Astor Place Theatre, venues known for grandiose spectacles such as “The Blue Man Group” and “Shakespeare in the Park,” visionary fashion designer Jason Wu and French luxury beauty brand Lancôme celebrated the launch of their new show-stopping collaboration.
A towering poster of Wu’s hand-drawn sketch of the final runway look at his Fall 2013 show at New York’s Fashion Week greeted arriving party guests. The ultraviolet Yves Klein gown was the inspiration for the limited-edition beauty collection, the first in a series of collaborations for Wu and Lancôme. Along with a sampling of Indochine’s French-Vietnamese cuisine hors d’oeuvres and their signature drink, the cucumber martini, guests were also treated to a preview of the line elegantly packaged in iconic Lancôme’s style, with a dash of Wu’s creamy silver signature color.
The upcoming 15-piece collection is comprised of three daring shades of violet blue eye shadow, including the centerpiece hue boldly on display at Wu’s show ($49 each), three companion neutral pressed powder shadows ($24.50 each), Lancôme’s popular Definicils Mascara in navy blue ($27), the Artliner liquid eyeliner in Noir ($30), the Dual-End Shadow and Liner Brush #18 ($32.50), the attention-grabbing luscious red Rouge in Love lipsticks ($26), and three equally striking crimson Venus in Love nail lacquers.
“It was a collaboration from the beginning,” said Gracemarie Papaleo, AVP of Product Development. “Jason picked the palette himself and mixed the hues from color shavings and powders with our makeup artists. The makeup you saw on the runway during his 2013 Fall collection show are the same colors and luxury cosmetics we now have available here for our customers.”
“[Wu] has an All-American feel that has global outreach,” said Stacy Mackler, VP of Public Relations for Lancôme, noting that Wu “understands the relationship between the beauty and the fashion industry” and that his work “has a chic elegance, femininity with an edge that is similar to Lancôme’s style and sensibility.”
“I use the beauty component as an essential arsenal to accentuate and extend the theme of all of my shows,” said Wu at the launch party. “The theme for my collection last fall was titled ‘Extreme Femininity,’ and I think the Lancôme artists did a sensational job with bringing that attitude to light.”
The collection is now available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom.
By Andrea Apuy
