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Off-White puts make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench in charge of its beauty division
Off-White continues to expand its scope by tapping talented young celebrities. The leading label of Italian fashion group New Guards Group has announced the appointment of British make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench, the star of creative make-up, as its beauty curator, to boost the beauty division Of-White created last year by launching a fragrance line. Ffrench’s ambition is to “[push] the brand into new beauty territory with high quality, luxurious products and boundary-breaking, elevated packaging, designed for everybody,” said Off-White.
Working alongside Ibrahim Kamara, who in 2022 took over from iconic designer and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh as the label’s creative director, Ffrench will enable Off-White to remain centred on a young audience, while propelling it into the future by boosting the awareness end-consumers have of the brand, said Off-White in a press release, highlighting in passing how “her unique approach to beauty took the industry by storm over 10 years ago.”
“Defying the standards of beauty at the start of her career, Isamaya has become famous for utilising unusual materials and techniques in her work as creative make-up artist and, in doing so, she caught the eye of some of the world's leading magazines, designers and celebrities,” added Off-White.
After studying 3D design at the Chelsea College of Art and industrial design at Central Saint Martins in London, Ffrench abandoned this discipline in 2010 to work as a make-up artist for the Theo Adams Company, a London-based artists’ collective active in theatre productions, which notably produced events for Louis Vuitton. There she realised she had a passion for make-up and drawing.
In 2017, Ffrench launched the Dazed Beauty website, enabling artists from all over the world to share their work, and began working as a consultant for several cosmetics brands, including Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Louboutin. She also regularly worked as a make-up artist for fashion shows, photographers and fashion magazines. She has collaborated with Mert and Marcus, Tim Walker, Steven Klein and Inez and Vinoodh, as well as with global stars such as Rihanna, Madonna, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
Ffrench developed the first make-up line for cosmetics brand Byredo and also worked for Burberry, before launching her own make-up line in 2022.
Blurring traditional aesthetic codes, Ffrench uses illustration and abstraction with a visionary approach to build a narrative around the face, while her industrial design training allows her to understand the vision and objectives of the brands she works with, and to develop solutions tailored to their needs.
“I’m delighted that Isamaya is joining the Off-White collective. Her fine taste, unconventional vision and extensive experience will help us write a new chapter for the label, since beauty is a crucial project within our journey,” said Andrea Grilli, CEO of Off-White, in which the LVMH group owns a 60% stake.
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