Dior Makeup reimagines couture for cosmetics
Dior's Peter Philips discusses the sartorial inspiration behind the brand's new eyeshadow palettes.

When Dior’s makeup creative and image director Peter Philips was designing the new 5 Couleurs Couture Palettes he wanted to translate both the look and feel of the brand’s couture garments into makeup.
‘I wanted to offer the same sensation of luxury that you experience when you go shopping in a Dior Couture store,’ says Philips. ‘Great colours, shades that are easy to wear and easy to combine, fantastic textures that feel like exquisite fabrics, and wonderful finishes that reflect the craftsmanship of the ‘métiers d’art’.
The connection between couture and cosmetics is familiar to Philips, having designed the makeup for all of Dior’s shows since 2014 and, prior to that, working as the creative director for Chanel’s beauty line, as well as being the mind behind the iconic bulbous, glossy-red lips at Alexander McQueen’s AW09 show.
For the 5 Couleurs Couture Palettes, a revamp of the brand’s classic 5 Couleurs eyeshadow palette, Philips went back into the archives to find iconic pieces of clothing that could be reimagined for the face.
‘For example, for the palette ‘279 Denim', I took shades of blue and blueish greens, that represent jeans. While the gold centre stands for the stitching that’s used [in the fabric].’
‘The palette ‘879 Rouge Trafalgar’ is literally inspired by Christian Dior’s take on red silhouettes in his couture collections. The warm, feline colours of ‘689 Mitzah’ are a perfect range of shades that match the elegant and, at the same time, daring personality that was Christian’s muse Mitzah Bricard.’
The end result is a line of 12 new eyeshadow palettes, ranging from the more neutral gold and brown combos to electric blues and iridescent purples. And while not every shade can be linked to a specific item of Dior clothing, all of the Couture palettes evoke the inherent luxury of a Dior garment with their unequivocally rich textures and elegant colour combinations.
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Mary Cleary is a writer based in London and New York. Previously beauty & grooming editor at Wallpaper*, she is now a contributing editor, alongside writing for various publications on all aspects of culture.
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