I have never wanted to be a princess.
On the Sunday nights of my childhood, when The Wonderful World of Disney came on, it wasn’t the fate of the frail damsel in distress that captivated me but that of the villains, with their witty one-liners and bossy badness. Unlike most daddy’s girls, I wasn’t called Princess but Partner, like a co-conspirator. Those cartoon bad girls were always scheming too, and had no interest in being rescued by some macho knight.
With a history of successful collaborations based on sweet and cutesy cartoon characters like Barbie, Hello Kitty and Fafi, M.A.C is now looking to the dark idols of my childhood with its new collection, Venomous Villains (from $15, maccosmetics.com). “I think villains are always chic,” says James Gager, M.A.C’s creative director. “This is very sophisticated makeup—not for going out on Halloween.” The company also sees a connection between being naughty and the current state of celebrity. “We’re kind of in this cultural moment where people get celebrated for being bad. You make a sex tape and you’re suddenly famous,” says Nicole Masson, M.A.C vice-president of product development.
Before I take a tour of Disney’s storied animation studios in Glendale, California, where I pore over and learn the history of closely guarded archival sketches, Masson discusses the rationale behind the collection’s shades, which were inspired by the original Pantones used by the illustrators. “We used all of the colours, not just the makeup,” she says, explaining that her team incorporated gradations taken from the characters’ entire looks, instead of just providing shades to recreate a villain’s face. They also wanted the line to be contemporary. “We did M.A.C’s modern interpretation of what a femme fatale would wear,” says Masson. “Plus, we wanted to put a little runway trend into this, because even though it is a fantasy and a fun collection, it has to be wearable.”
See the makeup inspired by the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent and Dr. Facilier
First published in FASHION Magazine October 2010
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