Cherry bomb: Guerlain spring 2010 collection
March 03, 2010
Blush, with and without flash:
The eye shadow palette:
Why Guerlain didn't do an actual cherry blossom design is beyond me, but these are gorgeous nonetheless - pale pinks and purples always nice to see for spring, and while I wish the pattern were a bit closer to the theme, it's fairly creative as far as makeup designs go. I also like this collection since it reminds me a tiny bit of the European fascination with Japanese textiles and art in the late 19th-century: Japonisme. While this term really refers to the techniques used (particularly for wood-block prints called ukio-e) rather than the subject matter, some Japanese objects can be seen in paintings from this time. Among the most famous is Claude Monet's 1875 portrait of his wife in a kimono and holding a fan:
And while Van Gogh is famous for his sunflowers and irises, he too got swept up in the craze for anything Japanese and painted almond blossoms:
(image from blog.stillriverstudios.com)
I sort of feel like Guerlain creative director Olivier Echaudemaison (quite a name, non?) was channeling Japonisme1 in this collection - a distinctly Western take on a part of Japanese culture.
1For more on Japonisme, check out Japonisme: The Japanese Influence on Western Art Since 1858 by Siegfried Wichmann or Japonisme in Western Painting from Whistler to Matisse by Klaus Berger.