PRETTY PRETTY: THIS LAUNCH PACKS A PUNCHLINE
Byline: Kerry Diamond
NEW YORK — While some companies are known for their serious and sophisticated positioning, others take a lighthearted approach to beauty.
One such brand is Pretty Pretty, a New York-based makeup-artist line launching this weekend at Apothia at Fred Segal in Los Angeles. Pretty Pretty features fun packaging, product names inspired by pop culture and a moniker borrowed from a scene in the campy classic film “Barbarella.”
James Vincent, the pierced and tattooed pop-culture junkie who cofounded the company, was more than happy to re-enact the scene, in which the Great Tyrant, played by Anita Pallenberg, meets the title character — played, of course, by Jane Fonda.
“The Great Tyrant says, ‘Would you like to play a game, Pretty Pretty? You’re so very pretty pretty, Pretty Pretty,’ ” said Vincent. “Then Jane Fonda says, ‘My name is not Pretty Pretty. It’s Barbarella.’ “
Vincent and Pretty Pretty’s other co-founder, Nick Gavrelis, met while working on a special project for MAC. Before becoming MAC’s head of artist training and development for the Northeast, Gavrelis scouted out new brands and trained beauty advisers as Nordstrom’s national beauty director. Vincent, who helped C.O. Bigelow Chemists develop its Alchemy cosmetics line, has worked as a makeup artist for MAC, Stila, L’Occitane and Urban Decay.
Ron Robinson, the owner of Apothia, said that part of his attraction to the line was its pedigree. “James and Nick are extremely creative and talented people,” he said.
The idea for Pretty Pretty came about last year during a party for Gavrelis’s birthday.
“We knew the market was saturated, but we were inspired by our clients and our friends,” recalled Vincent. “They were women on the go, forces to be reckoned with in all different industries, but their needs weren’t being met.”
“We definitely wanted to utilize our background and our skills and take advantage of all the feedback we’ve been getting from women over the years,” added Gavrelis.
As a result, the line has only 57 stockkeeping units. The products include lipsticks in five different textures (sheer, sheer cream, cream, lustre and matte), priced at $17 each; lip gloss in two textures, slinky (sheer) and gooey (richly pigmented), for $16 each; lip pencils in six shades for $14; kohl eye pencil in deep black for $16; mascara in black for $14; 12 shades of nail polish for $13; two face and body powders at $26 each, and two velvet face and body powders at $24 each.
There are six makeup brushes, ranging from a $22 short angle brush for eye liner to a Luscious Kabuki powder brush for $44. All the brushes come with metal covers and are travel size.
The lipsticks have some of the funniest names in the collection. One, a purple-brown shade, is called Angora Deb after the girl gang that “Laverne and Shirley” joined during an episode of the Seventies sitcom. Another, a mauve fuchsia, is named BB Gallini for the Italian makeup manufacturer who hired Mike Brady, “Brady Bunch” patriarch, to build her factory.
Pretty Pretty also has a number of signature products. Lip Salve is a luxurious lip balm packed with vitamins, mint extract, shea butter, wheat-germ oil and echinacea. It comes in one shade, a sheer plum-brown called Sissie, and is priced at $18 for a large container.
Face Salve is a sheer multiuse product packaged in a small mirrored compact. Available in four shades, it will retail for $18. Eye Smolder is a creamy, waxy product that can be used as eyeliner or eye shadow. It comes in three shades and is priced at $18 each.
In addition to Fred Segal Apothia, the line will be sold at 4510 in Dallas, Louis Boston and select Nordstrom locations. The line will also be sold on Pretty Pretty’s Web site, pretty2.com. Industry sources estimate the line will do more than $3 million at retail in 2001.
Some locations, including Fred Segal, will feature a Pretty Pretty interactive kiosk. By touching a computer screen, customers can navigate through various sections to get information on ingredients, application techniques or even a behind-the-scenes look at the photo session for Pretty Pretty’s ad campaign. “It’s education and information,” said Gavrelis.
The company won’t have a traditional advertising campaign. Instead, the line will be promoted on posters and postcards in the cities where it is carried. Gavrelis said they hope to advertise in some niche publications starting in 2001.
Pretty Pretty is just one of several new beauty lines launching this fall, but Gavrelis and Vincent are confident their brand can cut through the clutter of the beauty department.
“Pretty Pretty is humorous but provocative,” said Gavrelis. “It celebrates women, but it shows that we don’t take things too seriously. After all, makeup does wash off.”