Isamaya Ffrench on the Spirit of Collaboration

Beauty could learn a thing or two from fashion’s embrace of collaboration.

The fashion industry has been collaboration obsessed since Karl Lagerfeld teamed up with H&M to release a special collection in 2004. This groundbreaking liaison, the first time a luxury fashion designer had partnered with a high-street retailer, resulted in a sense of exclusivity and urgency, and empty shelves within hours of clothes hitting stores. It’s served as a blueprint for countless collaborations that have followed in the two decades since.

I’ve always loved the true spirit of collaboration: bringing together different perspectives, aesthetics and energies to expand a concept beyond one person’s brain. The fashion industry is adept at combining visions across artistic landscapes, leading to unique and innovative products that might not emerge from a single vision. When two brands collaborate, they leverage each other’s signature styles and reputations, offering a broader reach not just demographically but also aesthetically. This creates a wider range of opportunities for both collaborators, enhancing brand image and appeal.

This can be particularly beneficial for smaller or niche brands who partner with larger, well-established ones. It also allows larger, more commercial brands to connect with audiences they may not previously have reached, strengthening the creative authenticity that is often lost when a brand goes corporate. This has become a repeat formula for retailers like Target, which has aligned itself with designers including Missoni, Jason Wu and most recently, Diane Von Furstenberg, upping its fashion cred. For luxury labels like Louis Vuitton, which has enlisted a wide range of partners, such as the artist Jeff Koons, fashion editor Grace Coddington and streetwear label Supreme, it’s a way to associate the brand with a beloved figure or burgeoning sector.

But collaborations between fashion brands and companies in other industries can also result in groundbreaking products and concepts, broadening the influence of fashion into new realms. Brands can pool their resources, share costs and benefit from each other’s expertise. This can also help brands stay culturally relevant by aligning with current trends, popular figures or movements, maintaining their appeal in a rapidly changing market. Rimowa’s collaborations with Porsche or fragrance label Aesop, for example, helped reinsert the luggage brand back into the cultural conversation.

Makeup collaborations of this sort often rely on link-ups with talent and content creators to generate hype. MAC Cosmetics has pioneered the way for cosmetic collaborations with the likes of musicians such as Nicki Minaj, Cher and Saweetie as well as the artist Cindy Sherman.

But while fashion brands often team up with another, it’s far less common to see a makeup label collaborate with another existing brand to create innovation in the cosmetics sector.

Maybe it’s because every makeup brand seems to be in competition with one another. (Not that a collaboration between competitors can’t work — Versace and Fendi’s 2022 team-up was much talked about in the industry.)

But I look at them the same way that I look at fashion brands: each has its own visual language, products and therefore demographic. Why would beauty brands not collaborate with one another? The beauty market isn’t one big group of people who all have the same needs, tastes, aspirations nor budget, so why would collaborations not bring those same benefits of expanding to a bigger customer range? Isn’t that something worth investigating?

I’m trying to change the status quo. In May, my makeup brand Isamaya partnered with the cultish facial massage company Face Gym to create a protocol for a facial sculpting and contour device. The tool went viral and sold out within a matter of hours and continues to be one of the best performing products in our range, endorsing my belief in the power of collaboration.

I launched Isamaya with the firm idea of applying this concept of collaboration fashion has been using for decades and create exciting products that transcend the limitations of makeup. We are releasing two body sculpting tools this month with Face Gym to complete our collaboration, and I have two more projects launching this fall with other beauty brands.

Let’s see how far we can go.

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