On 6 September, Eyeko launched its collaboration with the fashion illustrator David Downton, bringing together art and beauty exclusively at Net-A-Porter. Downton's personalised sketch inspired three products to help women recreate the looks of icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. Bazaar's beauty team spoke to him and Nina Leykind, the founder and creative director at Eyeko, to discover more.
The collaboration "This is the first time I have lent my name to a beauty product," says Downton, "though I have over the years been lucky enough to work with many top brands." The collaboration "sounded fun" and came about very quickly and easily after the illustrator met with Eyeko: "We committed to it then and there. Working with [Leykind] was easy and constructive. Sometimes the simplest things work best."
This sentiment was shared by Leykind, who found the opportunity to work with the illustrator particularly exciting because she felt they both loved and focused on the same particular element of the female face. "It was interesting," she said, "that David's focus is on the eyes in his work and often just the one eye which is so Eyeko. He liked that as a make-up brand we focused just on eyes and our cocktail conversations immediately turned into talk of a collaboration."
The illustration The final sketch, a depiction of a woman's face, is presented in Downton's signature style using the most minimal of strokes and contains a touch of Eyeko blue as a finishing touch. The overall effect draws special prominence to the eyes, which are made bold and defined by long lashes, cat-eye eyeliner and a perfectly shaped brow.
"I'm obsessed with the end illustration', said Leykind, "especially the mesmerising depth those eyes have -; classic yet timeless. Getting the products out the make-up bag and looking at the illustration inspires me to do my best eye look each morning!"
The inspiration Downton revealed that the designs were inspired by the icons that both collaborators love, such as Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot as well as "[Erwin] Blumenfeld's iconic shot from 1950, which distills the model Jean Patchett's face to its essence, almost to abstraction."
The products are consequently designed to work together to help you recreate their looks. "Looking at icons from Audrey Hepburn to Sophia Loren, it was always about mesmerising eyes as well as big brows, lashes and liner styled to suit the individual. The three products in the collection make it easy to nail this look, from subtle feline flicks, the perfect cat eye, elegant lashes or bold brows: you can do it all."
The products The limited-edition collection includes the illustrated coffret, a new mascara designed to hug your lash line for greater volume and definition, a liquid eyeliner and Eyeko's classic brow gel which now has a curvier and fuller brush for added volume. They are all emblazoned with David's handwriting to form a collectable set."
Read the full article here.
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