Blending bespoke beauty with the house codes, the special lipstick is on a new frontier of luxury beauty.

Photography by Nick Thompson
Styled by Th&eacute;ophile Hermand

Since its inception, the house of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/quiet-elegance-haute-couture-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian Dior</a> has been a beacon of haute couture glamour and innovation. It was Monsieur Dior&rsquo;s revolutionary New Look that put the maison on the map in 1947, after all. Celebratory, modern, and with just a touch of excess (each full-skirted look used about 20 yards of fabric, indeed a luxury after widespread rationing during World War II), the collection laid the groundwork for the forward-thinking yet timeless ethos of the brand.
Six years later, in 1953, Dior introduced the perfect companion to his stunning designs: a tube of lipstick by the name of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/sam-visser-rouge-dior-lipstick-makeup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rouge Dior</a>. The beloved <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/best-red-lipstick-skin-under-tone-guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red lipstick</a> quickly became a beauty staple among Hollywood&rsquo;s leading ladies&mdash;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/grace-kelly-style-inspiration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grace Kelly</a> often wore the shade. Reviving the allure and updating the tube, creative and image director of Christian Dior Makeup Peter Philips reintroduced Rouge Dior to the maison&rsquo;s beauty division in 2021 as a full collection boasting 75 shades and a long-wearing yet hydrating formula.

Throughout the history of the maison, the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/fashion-trends-spring-summer-2023-haute-couture-runway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">haute couture</a> and beauty departments have coexisted, transforming over time to meet the contemporary woman where she is. And now, 70 years after the maison&rsquo;s first lipstick was created, the two departments converge for the debut of Rouge Premier, a first-of-its-kind haute couture lipstick.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a part of true luxury,&rdquo; Philips says. &ldquo;At the end of the day, we don&rsquo;t need lipstick, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/shopping/best-mascaras-luxury-shopping" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mascara</a>, or <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/shopping/fragrances-to-shop-spring-2023-perfumes-scent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perfume</a> to survive. But for the whole luxury experience, why not treat yourself? Make it special with a piece that is unique, that you can keep and refill and appreciate.&rdquo;
Philips had to consider the practicality and meaning of a haute couture lipstick. Unlike a haute couture dress, which is truly a one-of-one creation, the lipstick needed to embody a bespoke concept, while also being available in a selection of Dior flagship boutiques across the globe.

&ldquo;The actual essence of what couture is, is more exclusive, more <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/personal-style-tips-shopping" target="_blank" rel="noopener">personalized</a>, focused on artisanal craftsmanship, and it&rsquo;s specially made to measure. It&rsquo;s also a platform to experiment, to go extreme, in excess even, while still being very respectful towards a silhouette or a personality,&rdquo; Philips explains. &ldquo;And there are different ways to translate it into makeup&mdash;is it custom colors? Custom textures? How far can you go? [Dior Beauty doesn&rsquo;t] have an atelier where people can come in and do fittings, and we don&rsquo;t have a catwalk, so the approach is different. For this launch, we chose to really focus on the haute couture experience. When you go in for a new <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/audrey-hepburn-givenchy-little-black-dress-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dress</a>, it is from the moment you open the door to the haute couture house that you&rsquo;re pampered. You go for different fittings; it&rsquo;s a conversation about how you want the dress to be done. That service, that experience, makes you as a client feel like you&rsquo;re the only person in the world. That&rsquo;s what we want to project in this collection.&rdquo;

Model with short hair in Dior Makeup and Dior Haute Couture jacket.

Rouge Premier comprises 12 universal shades of a brand-new, luxe formula, housed in a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/refillable-beauty-products-sustainable-skincare-makeup-routine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refillable</a> ceramic case crafted in the renowned Bernardaud ateliers. Every detail of Rouge Premier has been elevated to couture standards, starting with the formula. Philips wanted to include exclusive ingredients to set Rouge Premier apart from Dior&rsquo;s other stellar lipsticks. The rich colors are supported by <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/what-is-hyaluronic-acid-how-to-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hydrating</a> ingredients, such as red hibiscus handpicked from the Dior Gardens in Burkina Faso, and silky jojoba oil. For an extra dash of luxury, 24-karat gold microparticles are suspended in the matte finish lipsticks&mdash;an addition that Philips admits is purely for the vanity of including real gold in the formula, and for showing off the labs&rsquo; innovation (Philips emphasizes the challenge of incorporating the precious metal).

"From the moment you open the door to the haute couture house, you're pampered... that experience makes you as a client feel like you're the only person in the world."

&ldquo;Gold doesn&rsquo;t actually do anything to the lipstick. It doesn&rsquo;t add luminosity, it doesn&rsquo;t really add any long-lasting benefit,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s like when you go to a very exclusive restaurant and you order that really special chocolate dessert with a little bit of gold on top. It doesn&rsquo;t add anything except you know that you&rsquo;re going to eat a bit of gold. And that&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/shwetambari-mody-indian-savoir-faire-artisanal-collaboration-interview-designer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">luxury</a>; that&rsquo;s decadence. And when you do it subtly, it&rsquo;s very chic.&rdquo;

"It&rsquo;s the same [as what] happens with haute couture,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;When you see the construction of a dress, quite often it&rsquo;s an extremely complicated process to get everything done. Is it necessary to be so complicated? Because you can find easier ways. But it&rsquo;s the craftsmanship that goes behind it that elevates a product from pr&ecirc;t-&agrave;-porter to haute couture.&rdquo;
Beyond the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/valentino-garavani-design-signatures-red-leopard-print" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fashion</a> terminology for such a high-quality creation, Rouge Premier can be defined as an heirloom. &ldquo;The case can be handed over from generation to generation,&rdquo; Philips notes. This sense of longevity is reflected by the case&rsquo;s toile de Jouy pattern, which was the original textile print in which Monsieur Dior outfitted his first boutique on Avenue Montaigne. It&rsquo;s become a timeless symbol of Dior, found throughout creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri&rsquo;s collections. Meanwhile, the lipstick refills offer a sense of novelty, allowing you to switch out the shade for any mood or occasion. Philips says there&rsquo;s room for the brand to expand beyond the initial 12 shades.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different way of experiencing your beauty routine,&rdquo; Philips continues. And what routine would be complete without <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/best-makeup-removers-for-every-skin-type" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beauty</a> tools to go along with the makeup? The maison has created a matching lip brush and mirror designed with Bernardaud ceramic in matching toile de Jouy to complete the collection. Each element is precious yet lasting, reflecting the core of haute couture. Making fantasies a reality: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a bit of the little pleasure you give yourself,&rdquo; Philips says.

MAKEUP Peter Philips using Dior Beauty MODEL Lera Abova&nbsp; HAIR Sarra Nan&nbsp; MANICURE Malou DIGITAL TECH Mitko Frangov MAKEUP ASSISTANTS Elodie Barrat and Sayuri Yamashita&nbsp; LIGHT ASSISTANT Thomas Pigeon

Swimsuit DIOR HAUTE COUTURE; SKIN: Dior Forever Glow Veil, Dior Forever Skin Glow 0N, Dior Forever Skin Correct 0N EYES: Diorshow Brow Styler 032 Dark Brown, Diorshow On Stage Crayon 529 Beige, Diorshow 5 Couleurs 439 Copper, Diorshow Iconic Overcurl 090 Black LIPS: Rouge Premier – Shade 9 CHEEKS: Rouge Blush 047 Miss

Dior's Rouge Premier Lipstick Takes Beauty to Haute Couture

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