Ffrench press
Make-up renegade and industry disruptor, Isamaya Ffrench plays by her own rules in the world of beauty. Fresh from her work on the July cover, Mahalia Chang asks her what’s next.
To read off the list of Isamaya Ffrench’s previous occupations, you might mistake it for a LinkedIn roll call. Prior to her current position – beauty industry ingenue and founder of the fantastical Isamaya label – Ffrench dabbled in it all. Springboard diving, face-painting, ballet, theatre, product design, 3D art, clay sculpture, even a stint as a chef. Winding roads led her faithfully into the beauty industry, where she was installed as beauty editor of i-D and Dazed, all the while creating make-up products for Tom Ford, Burberry and Christian Louboutin. Next came Byredo, Ben Gorham’s cultish beauty brand. Under Ffrench’s direction sprung a creative cacophony – gleaming curved lipsticks, alienesque mascaras in vivid red and green bending this way and that, and rippling gold palettes.
From there, it was a “natural next step” for the British make-up artist to create something for her own: the eponymous Isamaya. “For me, the most important thing was to make something that felt true to who I am and my spirit,” said Ffrench of incepting Isamaya. “And the way I approached it … I suppose it was unconventional. I didn’t want to create just a big collection that will look the same and be on the shelf for 10 years looking the same. I really wanted to explore the potential of interesting product design and materials.”
In conceiving a new brand, Ffrench also saw the possibility of creating a make-up label that acted like a fashion house; producing collections seasonally and participating in the cultural zeitgeist she knew so well from her work as an editorial make-up artist. “It wasn’t surprising that when I did the BDSM collection, Balenciaga were also doing leather, and Kanye [West] had that moment of doing BDSM [for Yeezy]. And then when we did the rhinestone [Wild Star] collection, Charlotte Knowles and Poster Girl and all of these young designers we’re all having this kind of Western Texan moment. It’s nice because I really feel like I’m on a train with a lot of the same people and influences around me. It feels nice to be part of that, that culture.”
Naturally, you wouldn’t mistake any of the Isamaya products for their traditional beauty obverse. The first collection, Industrial, paid homage to the aforementioned BDSM scene – lipsticks and mascaras came pierced with stainless steel barbells, while the palette suggested a latexcovered female form. Next came Wild Star, golden lip and eye products adorned with bucking broncos and covered in rhinestones. And then Lips, perhaps her most famous and provocative collection. Lipsticks came packaged within gleaming metallic penises, the campaign imagery for which was delectably cheeky – Ffrench herself draped over a supersized replica, other shots saw the product tucked into knickers and kissed by fawning models. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit. “I feel really fortunate that people have been so receptive to it because, ultimately, people like to be entertained, and they have a sense of humour. I appreciate that a number of my friends’ grandmothers have actually bought the lipsticks! So it just goes to show people of all ages appreciate a penis. You know what I mean?”
But resting on (perhaps phallus-shaped) laurels isn’t in the plan for Ffrench. On top of doing the beauty for Lily-Rose Depp and Troye Sivan this issue, Ffrench has a new collection for Isamaya – Industrial 2.0 with new face Julia Fox (“I think it’s maybe my favourite thing yet!”) – a collection with Off-White, and after that? “I’m actually going to Mongolia in July. I’m going horseriding in the desert. I won’t have a phone, so that’ll be nice.”