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i-Con peter philips TEXT ANDERS CHRISTIAN MADSEN PORTRAIT WILLY VANDERPERRE
Appointed Dior’s Creative and Image Director this year, legendary make-up artist Peter Philips has undertaken one of the most important roles of his career. Peter Philips, the Creative and Image Director for Christian Dior Make-Up
What’s the most iconic beauty look in history?
studied with Raf Simons at the Antwerp Academy, and created the designer’s
The way Andy Warhol painted make-up on Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, and all his silk
make-up looks for all of his menswear shows and his Jil Sander shows. After
screens, that’s iconic. He transformed them and made them into something totally different,
five years as Creative Director for make-up at Chanel, from 2008 to 2013,
which is immediately recognisable.
he took a year’s hiatus before stepping into the much lauded position of
What’s the most iconic look you’ve created?
Creative and Image Director of Dior last season, rejoining his friend Simons
It’s not just the make-up that makes something iconic, it’s also the way it’s shot. I did a
for a new chapter together at the high-powered steering wheel of fashion.
picture with Irving Penn, for which I made a Mickey Mouse mask in lace, and it became
For his first haute couture show for Dior this summer, Philips created a
iconic, but it was the image that became iconic. The other Mickey Mouse make-up I did, for
mirrored eyeliner application, which he adapted into satin pastel editions
Raf [pictured overleaf], still follows me around as well.
for the ready-to-wear show in September. In stores now, the eyeliner strips
How would you describe Raf’s view of beauty?
are a prelude to his first full beauty collection for Dior, which will see the
Raf has a very conceptual approach to things and he likes his beauty pure. Years ago, I did a
light of day come autumn 2015. “It’s kind of amazing,” he smiles, “but I can’t
men’s show with him, where I painted that Mickey Mouse look on a boy’s face, which is not
tell you what it is just yet.”
a natural look, but he loved it. I think he loved the conceptual aspect of make-up on men. It’s
Philips, who was born in Antwerp, set out to become a designer, but was
the same for women. Once Raf knows what’s on the face, he kind of gets less enthusiastic.
seduced by the art of make-up after a school trip to Paris Fashion Week. “My
He would like to believe that whatever’s on the face is there in a natural way. It can be a
technical schooling came from accepting every job I was offered. Whatever
bright colour or something like that, but it has to feel like the girl who wears it owns it.
they booked me for, I did,” he says of the early days of his career. Following
Is innovation a big part of what you want to achieve with your
his Antwerp gang – Raf Simons, Willy Vanderperre, Olivier Rizzo – Philips
products at Dior?
was soon booking major fashion jobs, working closely with photographers
When you make collections for a house like Dior, you’re creating make-up for a lot of
such as Irving Penn, Craig McDean and Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh
different women all over the world. I have to make products that are easy to wear for women
Matadin.
from whatever cultures and climates. A woman in Japan has a totally different make-up
But it’s perhaps his show make-up for some of the world’s most influential
approach than a woman in Spain: different climate, different aesthetics, and different
designers that has earned him his place in fashion’s hall of fame. Next to
expectations of her make-up. They all want to be beautiful and they need the tools to help
Dior and Raf Simons, designers such as Alexander McQueen, Maison Martin
them to be beautiful. The next step, then, is to seduce them into discovering new shades or
Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Olivier Theyskens and Karl Lagerfeld have all
new textures or new make-up effects. Next to that, I can surprise them by doing things like
enlisted Philips to make their worlds a more beautiful place. “They’ve all
application eyeliners or whatever.
got their own style and their own vision of make-up, so once I get into their
When Raf started at Dior, he told me he found the global outlook
world I’m at their service,” he notes.
of the house fascinating, coming from a more niche brand. Do you feel the same way?
You’re this issue’s i-Con. What’s the most iconic beauty product on
I don’t know if you can compare make-up with fashion, but what makes things really
the market?
interesting is that when I create products I don’t only focus on women who want to be trendy
A mirror.
and fashionable, because there’s a whole other group of women, who love Dior products not
Who’s your beauty icon?
because it’s a fashion house but just because they’re beauty products and they want to be
It sounds corny, but I love a woman like Sophia Loren. She’s not the classic pretty-faced girl,
beautiful. I always say that every woman wants to be beautiful, but every woman doesn’t
“When you make collections for a
but she invented “the new beauty”. Her face is exceptional. Her beauty comes so much from
necessarily want to be fashionable. But it’s as important for me to reach out to them with
house like Dior, you’re creating make-up
within as well. She’s got an amazing body, she’s got this strange face, but she holds her head
products that appeal to them from a fashion point of view.
up and has such sexuality and such confidence that she becomes irresistible.
You’ve worked with some of the most charismatic designers of our
for different women all over the world,
Have you ever worked with her?
time, one of them being Lee McQueen. What was he like?
I had the honour of working with her with Inez and Vinoodh on a Pirelli calendar years ago.
It was always a very intense process. He kind of knew what he wanted, but from that point
from different cultures and climates.”
She came in all made-up – she has always done her own make-up, I’ve heard – but I was
on he was open to all kinds of suggestions. The first show I did with him was the chessboard
allowed to retouch. And I could actually see how she almost paints her face: the eyebrows
show. It was a beautiful, amazing show. Even during rehearsals we were crying. It was
PETER PHILIPS, CREATIVE AND IMAGE DIRECTOR
are drawn hair by hair, the lashes are done immaculately one by one, the way the lip liner
magical. I did the show with him where Guido did those garbage bag hairdos, and I did a big
CHRISTIAN DIOR MAKE-UP
is drawn on, the shading, the highlighter… it’s a piece of art. That, for me, is a beauty icon.
red, oversize lip on the face. Lee’s idea of the show was three elements: Elizabeth I, Eliza
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258 “Sometimes it’s a bit scary when I see people interpretating an editorial idea I did on the street. You think, “Oh God, I’ve created a monster!” It’s not always meant for the street.” PETER PHILIPS, CREATIVE AND IMAGE DIRECTOR
CHRISTIAN DIOR MAKE-UP
Doolittle when she’s still selling flowers, and clowns. So we merged all three into one look.
themselves. It is what it is.
What was it like after he died?
That whole phase of pop stars in fancy dress and theatre make-up
The first show was only about ten days after he passed away. It was a very small, intimate
seems to be over?
show – 11 models if I remember correctly – and we did several presentations, which meant
Once you have a lot of craziness, it’s not that crazy anymore. It then becomes mainstream.
we did the show four or five times in a day. And at every single one of them people were
So it’s good sometimes to have a quiet moment, because the crazy ones will stand out even
crying backstage. It was really, really intense. He had chosen the music; it was classical
more. If it’s all crazy, it becomes kind of boring.
music, and it was very beautiful. The collection he made with Sarah was mind-blowing
What do you think about things like contouring and highlighting
– beautiful things, all those religious references. For me, it felt like going to some kind
becoming everyday make-up rituals, thanks to people like Kim
of remembrance mass four or five times in one day. There was
Kardashian?
serenity backstage, but after four or five shows I had no tears
Kim Kardashian wears full make-up as if she woke up like that.
left. It was something.
It’s not like a Lady Gaga transformation. Kim wears it really well.
What’s it like working with Karl Lagerfeld?
I don’t believe that she doesn’t wake up like that every morning.
Ah, Karl! Karl is a force of his own. It’s unbelievable. Karl always
It’s part of this era where our appearances are really important
has a story to tell, and that helps when you’re creating a look.
because we’re always in front of a camera. That’s why all the
Once he trusts you, you can go really wild and go far. At the last
tricks are easy to learn. Contouring is essential for people who
Fendi show, he showed me those blue hairpieces he made in
are constantly being photographed. Not only Kim Kardashian, but
leather. “I want that colour,” he said. “Play with it, cut up some
for all these people who are constantly taking selfies.
fabric if you want.” Suddenly he came over with a little strip of
Do you think make-up on men is still taboo?
leather. “Maybe you can use this?” he said. So we did eyeliner
The taboo is more in the gesture of applying make-up than the
applications for Fendi as well.
actual wearing of make-up. When a woman wears make-up it’s
Do you ever walk down the street and see
part of a seduction process. When a man wears make-up, it’s
a woman wearing a make-up look that you
more in a warrior kind of style. It’s to impress. For a woman it’s
created?
a lipstick, an eyelash, a blush, a nail, which goes very well with
Yeah, when I was at Chanel I could recognise my nail shades, or
a high heel: all sexual messages. Now I’m just generalising,
a copy of something I did. And that was very flattering for me.
of course. When a man wears make-up, it’s a healthy tan, or
Sometimes it’s a bit scary, for instance when I do an editorial
something more tribal like a black eye or a kohl eye, or rock’n’roll
make-up, which isn’t meant to be streetwear, and you’ll see
like a broken nail polish or something.
interpretations of what you did, and you think, “Oh God, I’ve created a monster!” It’s not
But we don’t want to see men applying make-up?
always meant for the street.
You don’t want to see a man in front of a mirror putting on his eye shadow. That kills the
What do you think of the mainstream approach to make-up at the
rock’n’roll aspect of it. Today, I think make-up for men is widespread. It’s just not so talked
moment?
about. I don’t think men mind using their girlfriend’s make-up products, but it’s more about
If you’d asked me that question ten years ago I would have known what to answer, but now,
the application process than the actual wearing of make-up. It’s less magical.
with the internet, everything is so accessible – with blogs and opinions about make-up –
Is there a way to wear make-up?
that it’s no longer clear to me what mainstream is. Anything is possible. There’s no fear of
As long as people have fun with it. It’s an amazing tool: it can make you feel beautiful and it
make-up anymore.
can be an explosion of fun. You can go really extreme, and if you make a mistake, just wipe it
What about the way celebrities are representing beauty right now?
off. Of course, I speak to friends who look back at their make-up looks fifteen years ago and
There are celebrities out there who represent beauty and values in a very good way, and
are a bit embarrassed about what they wore, but it’s part of who you are in that moment in
there are celebrities out there who should maybe shut up and not take so many pictures of
time. It’s a luxury to be able to worry about make-up, so it should stay relaxed.
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