Beauty and the Brand: My Chosen Brand

For my chosen brand, I selected NARS Cosmetics.

The creator behind NARS is Francois Nars, at NARS he's known as the founder and creative director. Not only doe she own his own make-up cosmetic brand, but he also is a fashion photographer thats worked with and shoot some amazing images. The catwalk is a public laboratory on which new directions are born. Nars' company was formed on the catwalks of Versace and Karl Lagerfeld, with vivid Technicolour schemes that became the blueprint for each seasonal look. His work draws inspiration from a variety sources, from King Kong to Elsa Schiaparelli. Amongst his lines are a dark chocolate lipstick formulated to match the giant ape's fur, and 'Schiap' is an exact match of Schiparelli's classic shocking pink. (The Fashion Book, 2014, p.380)

'Francois Nars' creative vision, which launched NARS Cosmetics with 12 iconic lipsticks in 1994, inspires self expression and imaginative artistry through an unexpected, no-rules philosophy of beauty.'

This is a quote from Nars himself, found on the NARS Cosmetics website. He started off his cosmetic range with only the 12 lipsticks, and developed on from there. Before all this is came along, Nars was hired as an assistant to some of Paris' top make-up artists. After attending the Carita Makeup School in Paris, Nars joined the world he so often dreamt about creating fresh and modern makeup looks. This lead him to working with famed photographer Paolo Roversi. His talent caught the eye of Polly Mellen, the then editor of American Vogue. This instantly lead to his decision to move to New York, in 1984.

He began working with American Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Italian Vogue and Elle start away. Francois soon earned his name and became a star in his own right. At the height of his career as a makeup artist, Nars was part of a small, elite corps of creative talent that conjured up innovative and modern looks for designers including;

Dolce & Gabbana
Genny
Marc Jacobs
Karl Lagerfeld
Versace
Valentino

Nars also ran advertising campaigns for clients such as;

Calvin Klein
Ralph Lauren
Versace

In addition, Nars also collaborated regularly with legendary photographers like;

Richard Avedon
Patrick Demarchelier
Steven Meisel
Helmut Newton
Irving Penn
Bruce Weber

NARS Cosmetics were born on Francois' fascination with colour, purity, and texture. With an overwhelming demand for his lip colours, Francois was inspired to create a full line of cosmetics to enable women to indulge in his idea of total beauty.

'Every woman can define her own style and simple be herself. I believe that truly modern makeup should enhance a woman's natural look without ever dominating or masking her own beauty and personality.' - Francois Nars

NARS COSMETICS, Unknown, About Francois Nars, 3 March 2016