First Look: Estée Lauder Gets Iconic


March 17, 2011 4:45 pm

What makes an icon? "Confidence," according to Constance Jablonski. "She's the full package," Joan Smalls chimed in when we encountered both models last night at the launch of an Estée Lauder campaign that aims to answer that question. "I've always loved simplicity; it's timeless," global creative director Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer explained of the new visual direction for the brand, which was lensed by Craig McDean and draws inspiration from Lauder's seventies and eighties archives, putting current spokesmodels Hilary Rhoda, Liu Wen, Jablonski, and Smalls in white ensembles. When asked about her own personal icons, Lauder named a few: "Kate Moss has great style. And Gisele-I'm always intrigued when I see pictures of her." Lauder's grandmother, Estée, is of course at the top of her list. The brand founder's indelible quote, "Every woman can be beautiful," was blown up and plastered alongside each and every ad image.

The task of painting the faces of Lauder's icons-in-the-making went to the brand's creative director of makeup, Tom Pecheux. "You have to pay attention not just to the face, but to the character," Pecheux said of crafting iconic makeup. "Liu Wen is so playful; that's why I gave her that eyeliner," he explained, pointing out the elongated black flick Wen wears in her portrait. "Constance for me, she has that innocence," Pecheux continued, which translated to a lot of mascara and brown eye shadow mixed with black, "so it's not so dramatic" in print. As for Rhoda, Pecheux saw beyond her signature sporty glamour and instead chose to focus on a delicate, romantic femininity. "I can see her fragility," he said explaining his use of rosy pigments and powders. The pictures officially hit Estée Lauder counters beginning in July, but we've got a preview right here. Thoughts on the new campaign?

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