Lancôme x Olympia Le-Tan: Rouge In Love Minaudière

FALLING “IN LOVE”

“Lancôme is celebrating (in its own unique fashion) both the success of a must-have make-up duo: Rouge In Love and Vernis In Love.

They have also become firm favourites of one of today’s most in-vogue fashion designers, Olympia Le-Tan. Resolutely retro, yet never nostalgic, Le-Tan’s work flies the flag for a passionate and confident breed of femininity. Inspired by favourite books, this technicolor world is beautifully captured in her Minaudière bags; today’s accessory of choice for style icons.

Blending past and present, the woman and the princess, looking serious without ever taking oneself too seriously, the paradoxes of Olympia Le-Tan reflect those of young women today, and perfectly embody the spirit of “Lancôme Girls”. Curious about their world they reinvent modernity and are independent as they remain true to their desires. Their beauty essentials are vibrantly-coloured lips and nails adorned as it-accessories.

Brought together by a shared vision, Lancôme and Olympia Le-Tan have teamed up to make an iconic case for the In Love range. The designer has created a special collector’s edition Minaudière containing her favourite shades of lipstick and nail polish. Inside, a label that looks like it belongs on a child’s school shirt bears the words “Hand made with love in France” – a motto that could equally belong to Lancôme. The best partnerships need no explanation.”

Youcef Nabi
Lancôme Worldwide President

IN LOVE WITH OLYMPIA LE-TAN

To celebrate their first birthday, Rouge In Love and Vernis In Love enter the whimsical, make-believe world of Parisian designer Olympia Le-Tan.

Three initials, OLT, the best-kept secret of celebrities and fashionistas; RIL and VIL, three must-have initials of style queens and beauty addicts. The encounter between Lancôme and Olympia Le-Tan was written in the stars.

After spending several years working with prestigious fashion houses, Olympia Le-Tan founded her eponymous label in 2009. Her designs are influenced by the graphics of the forties and fifties, as well as their glamorous pin-up girls. Passionate about embroidery and a great lover of literature, Olympia Le-Tan immediately attracted attention with her now cult-status accessory: a hand-embroidered Minaudière based on old book covers that she reinterprets at whim in tune with her reading. The stylish clutches quickly found their way onto the red carpet and into the dressing rooms of the most informed and admired actresses. In March 2012, Olympia Le-Tan showed the press her first ready-to-wear collection, a retro look infused with a modern, rock-star vibe, incredibly chic and edgy. An instant hit.

THE MINAUDIÈRE VERY LANCÔME

To mark the first international birthday of Rouge In Love and Vernis In Love, a celebration in homage to Valentine’s Day, Olympia Le-Tan has crafted an exclusive collector’s edition of her famous Minaudière to honour Lancôme’s high-colour duo.

The clutch contains the six most iconic shades of Rouge In Love and Vernis In love, including the designer’s own favourites. A devotee of ultra-red lipstick, Olympia Le-Tan’s must-wear shades are Rouge Valentine and Rouge In Love, which she pairs with a matching Rouge In Love nail polish or contrasts with Rose Plumetis candy pink.

TRADE SECRETS

Made entirely by hand, each Minaudière bag requires 18 hours of work. At its heart is the secret of a skill once again in favour thanks to the designer who learnt it as a young girl: the art of embroidery.

When she was little, Olympia Le-Tan learnt to embroider with her grandmother, while her grandfather taught her how to paint. So each new Minaudière is first brought to life with paper and paints. Le-Tan’s bags often reproduce the covers of her favourite novels, or are made to her own designs, like the one for Lancôme which creates the cover of an imaginary book.

Once the drawing has been coloured in, the designer rummages through her drawers and her collections of fabrics, felts and threads. She starts to work out how the textile puzzle will fit together, in order to bring the image back to life in a more tactile and colourful form. Le-Tan embroiders the first example of each Minaudière herself. Painstaking and compelling work, it is a silent but pleasurable task that enables her to find the right solutions as well as the perfect materials.

The designer has put together a team of five talented embroiderers. The first had a friend, who had a friend, and all share the same passion for needle and thread. Some are graduates of the Lesage school where this rare skill is still taught today. The team of women sometimes concentrate for several days on one panel of fabric, before mounting their finished work on a metal frame using a technique known as “gainage”.

The designer has remained faithful to the two stitches her grandmother taught her: the chain stitch with its regular loops, and the stem stitch with its twisted appearance. The signature woven labels inside the Minaudière also have their own story. To finish her very first piece, Le-Tan removed the label from an item of clothing she wore as a child. In London, she found the very same boutique where her mother used to shop, and from there she now orders the small rectangles of red and white fabric that have become her symbol.

Highly desirable, utterly precious, the Rouge In Love Minaudière has been made in an exclusive limited edition of 100 bags: the ultimate collector’s piece.

ROUGE IN LOVE

The it-lipstick for every occasion

Rouge In Love is in sparkling form, featuring here in six iconic and high-style shades… First comes a wave of light-infused reds: Jolie Rosalie, with its touch of blue that flatters all complexions, followed by Rouge Rendez-Vous, a subtle rosy pink, and Miss Coquelicot with a hint of orange that instantly livens up the face. Then come the most essential pinks in the collection: the tender Rose Boudoir, the highly charged Bold Fushia, and Perles de Rosée, a colour as delicate as the dawn sky.

155B Miss Coquelicot
167N Rouge Rendez-Vous
377N Jolie Rosalie
351M Perles de Rosée
360B Rose Boudoir
375B Bold Fushia

VERNIS IN LOVE

Your “technicolor” accomplices

A style accessory in a bottle… Six key shades from the Vernis In Love palette can now be rediscovered in this collector’s Minaudière. We begin with the star reds: the cult Rouge In Love, accompanied by Miss Coquelicot, an exquisitely deep shade. A touch of tenderness comes from Corail In Love and Rose Plumetis, the first with its gentle hint of orange, the second with its subtle, fresh shade of candy pink. Lastly, the electrifying deep pinks: Rose Boudoir, a flashy fuchsia, and Midnight Rose, a crimson with all the mystery of the midnight hour.

105M Corail In Love
154M Miss Coquelicot
112B Rouge In Love
375B Rose Boudoir
300M Rose Plumetis
441N Midnight Rose

—————————————-

“I wanted to design the cover of an imaginary novel called ‘Rouge In Love’. My idea was to create a ‘mise-en-abyme’, a book within a book. It is held by two hands with painted nails and surrounded by little red and violet lips that seem to dance around. I love drawing lips, so it was the perfect opportunity…

The clasp and side, instead of having a gold finish like my other designs, are silver, like a mirror. Perfect to look into during the evening if you want to touch up your make-up.”

Olympia Le-Tan

—————————————-

There will only be 100 Rouge In Love Minaudières worldwide; and only 1 Rouge In Love Minaudière in Singapore. It is not available for sale and will be given away as a contest gift to the public.

Here are details on how to win the Minaudière:

Submit a short write-up describing a moment in love of not more than 350 words. (it can be a personal account or a fictional story)
Participants can submit via email at enquiries@lancomesg.com with their Name, NRIC and HP; or head down to the Lancôme IN LOVE event on 14 Feb – 21 Feb to submit the entry. The event will be held at TANGS Orchard Beauty Hall.
The Lancôme IN LOVE will showcase the Minaudière and there will be a “workstation” for participants to do up their entries. All submitted entries will also be displayed during the event. There will also be complimentary in love makeover services; and a selection of the Best of Lancôme in love products available.
Winner will be announced on 22 March 2013 via Lancôme Singapore Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/lancomesingapore. Contest deadline is 15 March 2013.
More details available at Lancôme Singapore Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/lancomesingapore.

Thank you for looking.