New Chanel Global Creative Makeup and Colour Designer Lucia Pica creates the Chanel Le Rouge Collection N°1 and gives the power to red.

Reinterpreted by Lucia Pica in the Chanel Collection N°1, red upsets the codes. Through the depth of a nail polish, the frankness of a lipstick or the intensity of an eyeshadow, makeup classics give women a new power.

“I am obsessed with the colour red, I always have been. There is strength and motion, warmth and disruption in red. It is a colour that has both a sense of the real and the dical about it. Red is so strong for me and yet it is also intrinsic to the world of Chanel,” said Pica.

In a variation of tones, textures and finishes, she reveals the many facets of the iconic shade with an expressive palette for face, lips, cheeks and eyes. “I really wanted to explore the meaning of colour and what is behind it. There is an idea of the symbolism of red and a red undertone runs throughout the collection.”

While still partaking in the search for the iconic and classic in each area of the collection, Pica also confounds expectations and takes the red into unexpected realms, particularly that of eye makeup, evoking emotion and passion here too.

It is no surprise that red is one of the power colours of Chanel Fashion and a foundation colour of Chanel Beauty. Introduced in 1924, Chanel’s red lipstick, both a signature of Gabrielle Chanel’s personal style and an icon of the beauty house, has never been out of fashion or out of production. Through its many incarnations, it has been used from the beginning for both its attractive and combative qualities, with Gabrielle Chanel saying “mettez du rouge et attaquez*”. It was a fascination with this iconic red, and her own personal obsession with the colour in general – red is often a signature in her editorial work – that led Lucia Pica to explore the colour further.

Shop the collection here.