Australian lipstick designer Poppy King hopes to bring the bright accessory back into the spotlight as she unveils her Lipstick Queen collection to a handful of retailers in downtown New York this month.
“I love glamour and strength, and I find both characteristics in lipstick. There’s a form of self-expression and humor to it. It’s cheeky, and lipstick is also such an icon,” said King, president and chief executive officer of the two-month-old Lipstick Queen —King’s nickname and the name of the company — who was sporting scarlet-red lipstick.
King, an admitted lipstick junkie who’s worn it since her early teens, recognized that lip gloss had stolen center stage and become the new lipstick.
“I think lipsticks are coming back to a place of respect. Lipsticks have been a bit forgotten, but what I see is the market correcting itself at the moment, with lipsticks going up and lip gloss coming down,” said King.
The collection contains 10 shades, from brown and pink to classic red, with names like Saint Wine and Sinner Nude. The lipsticks, $18, are available in two textures, “Sinner” and “Saint.” The Saint formulations are sheer and moist with a hint of color and shine; Sinners feature deeper, opaque colors. The difference in the formulations is the percentage of pigment usage. For instance, Saint shades contain 10 percent pigment; Sinners contain 90 percent.
“There are two extreme formulas that are polar opposites of each other, which creates distinct textures. One is very sheer and the other is very rich, but I’m using the same exact color in the treatments, so you can choose whether you want to be a sinner or saint,” said King.
With packaging inspired from Seventies album covers and Art Noveau, each lipstick contains a letter to the customer from King on the back explaining her inspiration, the story behind the line, her addiction to lipstick and her photo.
King plans an unconventional retail distribution for the line. In December, the collection will be made available at eight downtown New York boutiques including Lyell, Castor and Pollux and Michael Angelos Wonderland. Also in December, Barneys will sell the line on its Web site and sponsor a one-month collection preview by private appointment through personal shoppers for beauty. Starting in January, the line will be sold exclusively in Barneys New York in New York, Chicago and Boston. Then, by March, the collection will be sold at Studio at Fred Segal and later on roll out to additional Barneys doors in Beverly Hills, Dallas and Seattle. Starting over the holiday season at select downtown retailers, there will be “pop-up retail exhibitions.” For instance, at Michael Angelos Wonderland at 418 W 13th Street, the front window display will feature King photographed with poppies with the tagline “Long live the Queen.”
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In 1992, King launched her Seven Deadly Sins line amid an “indie brand explosion,” as names like MAC, Benefit, Bobbi Brown Essentials, Trish McEvoy, Hard Candy and Urban Decay started budding. Once King’s indie phase ended, she signed on as vice president of creative marketing at Estée Lauder-owned Prescriptives.
“At Prescriptives, I worked counters and advised women on lipstick colors, everywhere from Mississippi to New York, and showed them how lipstick can change their entire mood,” said King. “I made sure to think of all skin tones when designing.”
Although King’s first attempt at establishing a lipstick brand was not as successful as she had hoped, she’s confident her new line will attract women interested in lipstick.
“I want to do nothing other than lips,” she said. “That’s my passion and obsession and where I feel I can add to the dialogue. I can do a brand around one category because my passion and vision come through in the product. I’d rather be known for doing one thing really well than many,” said King, who has plans to build this lipstick into a specialty brand over the next few years.
King is confident that women are interested in shopping different brands and are looking for product category experts rather than buying a company’s entire collection.
“The thing I have going for me is authenticity,” said King. “My obsession sprung up from genuine passion. I was a little girl who was obsessed with my mother’s lipstick, and I haven’t come up through the makeup world as a makeup artist,” she added.
King wrote a book, “Lessons of a Lipstick Queen,” a hybrid guide and memoir for lipstick lovers, which is being published for February 2008 by Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster. All profits from the sales will be donated to Kids in Distressed Situations, a charity for children in need. King is on the K.I.D.S. board.