Update (7th May 2019): Gucci Beauty took to Instagram on the weekend to reveal the ad campaign for their hotly anticipated 58-strong lipstick collection, but the pictures, shot by photographer Martin Parr, have divided opinion among their followers.
The brand eschewed models with picture-perfect teeth and chose the likes of Dani Miller, the lead singer in Brooklyn-based punk band Surfbort, and Fashion Week regular Mae Lapres, to feature in the lipstick campaign instead. While some of Gucci Beauty's followers praised the brand for showing that there is beauty in imperfection, there were a handful of negative comments. "I'd rather spend my money for dental care," wrote one follower. Another commented: "This will definitely not motivate anyone to buy this fucking lipstick."
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But for every cutting comment, it seems there are hundreds of positive ones. "Never thought I'd see teeth like mine in a high fashion scale. Thank you for including the fact that not everyone have the straight teeth we are told to have," wrote one follower, while another said: "I actually prefer seeing this ad to the typical crystal white and symmetrically perfect teeth we see in dental and beauty adverts all the time. It makes me feel like my teeth are okay."
This story was originally published on 3rd May 2019.
Gucci launched its makeup collection in 2014, with ex-creative director Frida Giannini and legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath at the helm. It was a range not to be sniffed at, and included everything from lipstick to eyeshadow and a number of makeup artist-approved face products, like foundation and blush.
The formulas were on point and the packaging was luxe, but much to the disappointment of makeup lovers everywhere, Gucci Beauty dropped off the radar, with brands like Glossier, Huda Beauty and Too Faced taking its place in the beauty sphere. According to Vogue, however, the Italian fashion house is set to relaunch its makeup collection this month, and it's on a mission to make it bigger and better than before.
Under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, the makeup line will make a return with a 58-strong army of lipsticks – the New Lipstick Collection – but the shade range as well as the texture, whether liquid, matte or satin, is yet unknown. If Gucci's past Fashion Week beauty looks are anything to go by, though, we can expect everything from balmy nudes for a pared-back look and punchy reds for some clout. In fact, the brand is rumoured to have industry makeup artist, Thomas de Kluyver – known for his innovative, avant-garde beauty looks – on board, as well as famous faces like Dani Miller, the lead singer in Brooklyn-based punk band Surfbort, and Gucci model Mae Lapres.
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"Make-up is something poetic and fleeting that you can add to your face, changing or highlighting something about yourself," Michele told WWD this week. "I find it an almost magical language, strongly linked to the other details I use for the expression of the self, such as jewellery and a hairstyle. Of all these aspects needed to emphasise or underline an aspect of ourselves, makeup is the most immediate and the oldest way, making it the most fascinating."
The renewed collection is said to mirror Gucci's fashion and fragrance dynasty, no doubt occupying a cosy space between the chic and modern aesthetic of bestselling perfume, Gucci Bloom, and its recently launched The Alchemist's Garden collection of candles and scents, which pays homage to vintage, apothecary-esque perfumery. In true Gucci fashion, there will be some gold motifs thrown in for good measure, too.
The New Lipstick Collection will be available in the UK on 28th May, and you can shop everything in store and online at Harrods.