Issamaya Ffrench welcomes art brùt into the beauty world

Isamaya Ffrench is among the 10 women who are changing the beauty industry. Over the past decade, she has consulted and developed products for Tom Ford and Byredo, worked on catwalk shows and editorials with the likes of Mert and Marcus, Tim Walker and Inez and Vinoodh, helping to create iconic looks such as Rihanna with skinny eyebrows on the cover of British Vogue's September 2018 issue. And each time, she has distinguished herself with a unique, dark, experimental and alternative vision of beauty. After years in the trenches, the talented Brit, who currently serves as global director of Burberry Beauty, is about to launch her own make-up line, which will hit shops in the coming weeks and will simply be called Isamaya.. Details about the new project are still scarce, but the hype is high. Here's what we know so far.

The line will probably be genderless

Let's not expect red lipstick and doll make-up, Ffrench is going for a non-conformist take on "glam", a modern, genderless approach to beauty because "There are people out there who don’t just want "glamorous and pretty", but something more edgy and exciting. I want my brand to talk to those people. Something honest and uninhibited." An example? The translucent mulberry gloss  clouds the lips in shape-enhancing shadows and "It looks great on guys and girls."

Let's go for dark hues and unexpected details

The images we see on the brand's Instagram page have a fetish vibe and hint at a range of cosmetics designed to create dramatic, dark make-up. Isamaya's first drop, in fact, will include an eyeshadow palette with "industrial" colors in putty textures and moody, dark shades interrupted by bright greens and oranges. Among the must-have products will also be the Rubberlash mascara that has an instant lengthening effect and is enclosed in a decidedly hot packaging with a cap impaled by a hard metal piercing. Another innovative product is an eyebrow pomade that completely laminates the eyebrows, giving them a nude effect and that, once applied, can be layered with the foundation to create a completely new eyebrow shape.

The line will hit the shelves at the end of June

Isamaya draws on her founder's unique and sometimes dark vision of beauty, which she likes to repeat:

"Make-up was always meant to make you transform temporarily before you washed it off. I want this make-up to be weapons for truth. I want people to feel like they can be themselves or they can join something or try something".

To know how all this will be expressed in terms of products, we will have to wait until June. In the meantime, those who want to be among the first to grab the Isamaya drop can sign up here.

Steven Klein shot the campaign

For the visuals of his new brand Ffrench had no doubts: he chose Steven Klein because "There’s a dark quality to his way of seeing things that I think we share. It’s just perfect in my eyes, the thing that we’ve created". From the few pictures available, the result looks captivating, mysterious and with bondage references.