Jeanne Damas

PARIS — French fashion brand Rouje is rebranding and relaunching its beauty offering as it prepares to expand into skin care.The Rouje Beauté line, launched in 2018 and consisting mostly of lipsticks inspired by founder Jeanne Damas’ trademark red pout, will be renamed Les Filles en Rouje, starting with the introduction of its first face palette on May 8. It plans to gradually expand into other color cosmetics categories through 2023.
“I wanted to separate them and launch a new site and a new identity, because I want to give [the beauty collection] more space,” Damas said at a launch event, held in her new office at the Rouje headquarters in Paris. “At Rouje, lipstick was originally designed as an accessory, like a bag or shoes. Now we want to develop a full range of makeup.”

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The name of the line loosely translates as Girls in Red, though Damas has customized the French word for the color, “rouge,” with her own initial.

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“It was an expression we used internally to talk about people who follow the brand,” she said. “Initially, I was afraid that it might be a bit long for a brand name, but in the end, I thought it worked because it opens up a whole world of possibilities — the ‘girls’ are not just me, it’s everyone.”

A campaign image for Les Filles en Rouje’s face palette.
Courtesy of Les Filles en Rouje.

She’s keen to point out there’s nothing girly about the range itself, which comes in brightly colored packaging with a graphic new logo. “The brand may be called Les Filles en Rouje, but in fact, it’s for all generations,” she said. “This makeup is designed to reveal your natural beauty and allows you to be playful.”
Nonetheless, Damas — who rose to fame as a teenager as the embodiment of French Girl Style — remains the principal muse for the collection and its retro-style packaging. For her debut complexion offer, housed in a tortoiseshell-patterned compact, she wanted something light with creamy formulations.
Priced at 49 euros, the palette contains three shades of highlighter, containing cocoa butter and jojoba, and three blush colors, enriched with castor oil, designed to work with different skin tones. “I never use foundation, but I like to wear a little light and color,” she explained. “It’s not designed to hide the skin.”

Les Filles en Rouje’s first face palette.

In September, the 30-year-old plans to release a full skin care line.
“During confinement, there was not much opportunity to wear makeup, apart for oneself. Skin care took on a more important place in our lives. That got me interested in launching my own line,” she said. “I’ve always used only 100 percent natural products, so I really wanted to create it with natural ingredients.”
While she plans to launch the collection with glass packaging designed to be displayed on bathroom shelves, she wants to introduce refillable formats later down the line.
Damas hopes to open a separate beauty boutique near her office and store on Rue Bachaumont, if a space opens up. “I’d like to have another store just for beauty, to offer a different experience, because the two can coexist, but they can also speak to two different customers,” she said.
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PARIS — French leather goods brand Lancel hosted a dinner at its historic store across from the Paris Opera on Thursday to celebrate its collaboration with influencer-turned-designer Jeanne Damas on a version of its signature bucket bag, signaling a new era of growth for the brand after several challenging years.Tables were decked out in colorful mismatched glasses and crockery for the dinner by French chef Pierre Touitou, accompanied by a live piano performance. Italian entrepreneur Marco Palmieri said it was the first collaboration since his accessories and luggage company Piquadro SpA acquired Lancel in 2018.
Having successfully weathered the antigovernment gilets jaunes protests and the coronavirus pandemic, Lancel is expected to return to profit in the 2021-22 financial year, which ends on March 31, Palmieri reported.

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Sales between April and December totaled 45.8 million euros, up 32.6 percent versus the same period a year earlier, with all channels improving. Wholesale was up 46.3 percent, retail 29.7 percent and e-commerce 29.1 percent, Lancel said in its most recent financial statement in January.
When Piquadro bought the company from Compagnie Financière Richemont, it had an annual turnover of around 53 million euros, with negative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of approximately 23 million euros.
“The turnover this year is higher that the pre-COVID[-19] situation,” Palmieri told WWD, noting that the brand opened 10 stores in Asia during 2020 and 2021, in addition to locations in Germany, France and Russia. “Now we’ve found a new stability and we hope to start to grow fast again.”
In 2022, Lancel plans to open another five stores in China, one in Malaysia and one in Vietnam, Palmieri said. It was also due to open an additional two stores in Russia, though that project is temporarily suspended as the European Union has banned the export of luxury goods to Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
As part of its turnaround plan, Piquadro appointed Barbara Fusillo as head of design in 2017 and moved manufacturing to Italy. The brand maintains an important foothold in Paris, having recently inaugurated its new headquarters in an Art Deco building in the 8th arrondissement, where its design studio is based.

The Chéri bag design by Jeanne Damas for Lancel.
Courtesy of Lancel

The Opera flagship, open since 1929, is a landmark for many locals, including Damas herself. “This square is so incredible. When you look at this view, you feel really privileged,” she said, pointing at the light-flooded façade of the opera house.
“What I love is that we all have a memory associated with this brand,” Damas continued. “It’s luxury, but it feels accessible because it seems like everyone’s grandmother, at least if you’re Parisian or French, had a Lancel handbag. That was definitely the case for me, so I really feel like it’s part of the fashion landscape in France.”
The founder of the Rouje label is a big fan of straw baskets, so she wanted to translate that spirit into her version of the Chéri bag.
“I use them winter and summer, so the challenge was how to make a leather handbag that looks like a basket. We ended up using a woven leather technique that gives it a real luxury feel,” she explained. “They had never worked with woven leather before so it’s cool, because it’s a real collaboration. We didn’t just change the color of the bag.”

Available in two colorways, Snow and Carmine, the bag retails for $1,850. Palmieri and Damas celebrated their partnership on the dance floor by dancing wildly to a selection of French pop hits.
SEE ALSO:
As Her Rouje Label Turns Five, Even Jeanne Damas Is Over French Girl Style
In a Flurry of Deals, Richemont Completes Sale of Lancel to Piquadro
Lancel Celebrates Its 140th Birthday With a Paris Bash

Whether you want to save money or you’re stepping up your sustainability credentials, here’s your guide to revamping your wardrobe without going shopping.
Photo: Acielle / Style Du Monde

One activity many of us aim to do before spring is organise, declutter and refresh our wardrobes, finding old gems such as that plaid vintage shirt from the 1990s or a long-forgotten Issey Miyake dress that was worn once, but is right on-trend for 2021. Going shopping in your own closet is even better when you’re recycling old looks to be more sustainable (after all, we need to do everything we can to help save the planet).
Many of us only wear a small portion of what we own — a 2018 study showed that people ignore at least 50% of their wardrobe — especially during the pandemic, as we attend Zoom meetings and go on supermarket dashes in our favourite tracksuit bottoms and slides combo. But that means there’s no better time to give our closet a top-to-toe clear out, putting together new outfits from old staples and creatively styling what we’ve already bought.
So, here’s your guide to revamping your wardrobe, working with what you have and refreshing your style for the year ahead.
1. Neutrals are your best friends
Photo: Acielle / Style Du Monde

As you begin rummaging through your vast collection, try separating all of the neutral items you have in your wardrobe and put them into one place — trust us, they’ll help you when you come to style an outfit in a new way. These are your look’s ‘base’ colours, and they’re perfect for adding oomph to an all-black outfit (take your cue from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s minimalist New York label, The Row). Simply layer with that retro red jacket you have lying around or those cowboy boots you never knew what to do with.
2. Get some Instagram inspo
Photo: Paul Gonzales

Your IG feed can be your greatest source of inspiration — I recently discovered how to style a pair of white leather boots just by scrolling through and seeing Dua Lipa’s take on them. Follow accounts that resonate with you and your style — I love @PelayoDiaz ,@AnnaTrevelyan and @MarcGoehring — and create a folder where you can save your favourite images. Pro tip: following 1990s and 2000s nostalgia pages will spark ingenious outfit ideas and you can upcycle those Y2K items that you haven’t touched in years (yes, Juicy Couture tracksuits included).
3. A staple shoe can get you anywhere
Photo: Acielle / Style Du Monde

In 2020, we witnessed the explosion of the chunky sneaker everywhere, for everyone, for every occasion. When it comes to digging out the staple footwear you need to see you through 2021, look for the ‘dad’ trainer; a heavy-duty black boot; a ballet pump and even a pair of Crocs — they’ll provide all the versatility you need. When trying on looks, experiment with a shoe-outfit combo you haven’t worn before — the results may just surprise you.
4. Accessories are wardrobe saviours
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Silver bangles, vintage rings and necklaces are something I always find every time I clean out my closet, most of them purchased from vintage markets. Experimenting with stacking rings or wearing jewellery over gloves will add that edge to a simple outfit and make it stand out. This is where your creativity comes into full force.
5. Remember, a coat will transform your look 
Photo: Acielle / Style Du Monde

Multi-colored or block color, statement or simple, vintage or new — coats are the ultimate  finisher for any look. Try swapping in different coat styles over multiple looks; again, you never know when you might find a brand-new outfit. Look to Hailey Bieber for outerwear inspo — Vetements puffers, utility vests, padded cocoon coats, the list is endless. You’re sure to have something in the back of your closet that is on-trend for SS21 (hint: the 1970s tracksuit jacket will be the style everyone wants this spring, so keep an eye out for one in your wardrobe).
Read Next: 17 Style Resolutions and Ways to Refresh Your Fashion Mindset for 2021
Originally published on Vogue.in