As long as I can remember I have always devoured magazines and clipped and pulled pages out of articles or advertisements that interested me. Now I have a filing cabinet bursting at the seams with all sorts of ephemera. I recall when I first came across Serge Lutens' work. There popping out of the pages from one of my sister’s magazines was an ad for Christian Dior makeup created by Serge Lutens and called “les fantastiques”. Of course I tore it out and couldn’t wait for the next collection to be released. I wasn’t disappointed and next month another add appeared for Dior called “les rythymiques” I thought these were two of the most beautiful things I had ever seen and still have them.
“les rythmiques’ was Lutens last work for Dior before he went to the Japanese giant Shiseido, and his work just got better! During the sixties he had been well known and creative; however, it wasn’t until 1980 that Lutens took his rightful place as a true innovator with Shiseido hiring him to develop their image internationally. His exquisite pioneering looks for Shiseido were breathtakingly beautiful and precise, and throughout the 1980s he shot numerous advertising campaigns and films and also designed makeup and packaging.
Shiseido’s campaigns under Lutens encompassed everything from copy, packaging and creative direction. If you bought a Shiseido product in the early 80’s it came in an exquisite shopping bag with a photo of the then current campaign. I still have several of these bags and treasure them dearly. His projects for Shiseido perfectly combine the aesthetics of Japanese design with French chic, creating memorable images.In 1982, Shiseido commissioned him to create the fragrance "Nombre Noir". Both the fragrance and its packaging were considered ahead of their time. In 1990 he received "Le Grand Prix" at the International Art Film Festival, sponsored by UNESCO. Since his early days with Shiseido ha has gone onto to create the now famous "Les Salons du Palais Royal", a house of perfume. In 2000, he launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens".
