Since its announcement in January, the collaboration between Lancôme and Alber Elbaz, considered by many to be one of the most exciting projects between a fashion designer and a beauty brand, promises to be the buzz of the year. The limited-edition collection will finally be available in stores on June 15th. In the meantime, on June 3rd, Lancôme will reveal the film dreamed up by the designer to celebrate this partnership highlighting offbeat luxury and sophistication with a twist of humour.

Paris, just steps away from the Seine River. The show is about to begin. Around the podium, the crowd sighs ‘Oh là là!’. The ambiance is electric, vibrant with frivolous hints of madness, verging on extravaganza! As the lights are dimmed and silence descends, only the eyes of the audience can be seen and also lashes, lashes everywhere.  Curious, languid, wide-open, self-assured, refined, glamorous; their lashes batting in the dark. When the first silhouette appears, draped in a heart-covered dress belted under the chest with an XXL bow, the lashes begin to bat ever faster, as if electrified.  A second figure appears in a backless dress scattered with stars, the house bow seen in cobalt blue, and then a third, covered in pink and black polka dots and flaunting dizzying curves. Throughout the crowd, eyes widen to the extreme, lashes as fainting, somewhere between a hypnotic trance and pure bliss. From New York to Shanghai or Rio, the entire globe gazes enraptured at the broadcast, when suddenly…?

“Our job is to tell stories. It all starts there,” explains Alber Elbaz. “It all stems from the incredibly rounded and curvaceous mascara bottles. The moment I saw them I thought of women’s bodies. There’s something of Cinderella and her magical carriage in this idea of fairy-tale metamorphosis. The transition from the real to the surreal of course echoes make-up itself, and sparks the imagination. So I came to this idea of a fashion show where all you see are eyes in the front row, and the women gradually transform into bottles.”

From May 27th to 31st, 3 teasers will give the public a sneak peek behind the scenes of this runway show whose extravagance and playfulness have the characteristic style of Alber Elbaz’s sketches. Then, on June 3rd, they can discover the film on Lancôme Canada YouTube and Facebook pages: 1 minute and 30 seconds of cheerfulness and colours. It took more than six months of work to animate the designer’s drawings, with the collaboration of Pascal Dangin, a Frenchman based in New York who has become the darling of luxury brands with his Box Studios agency. You can watch the first teaser here:

“Alber is a born storyteller,” emphasises Youcef S. Nabi, President of Lancôme. “The whole thing began with his story, which he told in the form of a short film. The stars of this film are the mascaras, just as he imagined them. I don’t think anyone has ever created a product quite that way before, and that’s what makes this collection so unique. Once again, a story that is genuine and infused with joy: pure Elbaz and pure Lancôme!”

The Alber Elbaz x Lancôme limited-edition collection will be available worldwide from June 15th. It includes mascaras, palettes, eyeshadows and, for the first time at Lancôme, false lashes. This is the designer’s first time participating in a make-up collection.

I can’t wait to see more! How about you? Are you excited about this collaboration?