i dive into the well of my body
and end up in another world
everything i need
there’s no need
to look anywhere else
– home
Rupi Kaur
No labels or impositions. Just openness, acceptance and endless possibilities.
For Gucci Beauty, beauty is about mystery and the intimate and profound relationship we all have with ourselves. There are no specific definitions: boundaries become blurred until they disappear. And makeup transforms into a precious tool to reinvent ourselves every day, as Alessandro Michele points out: "Makeup can be used to construct the identity we wish to project, yet this does not mean it has to change what is already there; it should be about enhancing individuality, not concealing it".
The Fluide De Beauté Fini Naturel and Sérum De Beauté Fluide Soyeux were created precisely to emphasize natural beauty and enhance an individual’s distinctive features rather than concealing them. The foundation, in particular, is a genderless product which, thanks to its 40 different shades, it suits all skin types, giving the face a fresh and hydrated look. Naturalness is the key word as revealed by the photos shot by Catherine Servel, winner of the Vogue Italia's IG scouting #GucciBeauty together with David PD Hyde, who made these beautiful portraits:
We chatted with her about the Gucci Beauty's philosophy and her personal vision of beauty.
Looking at the portraits you have shot, the sensation is that of a joyful and colorful family made of people who display that type of confidence that comes from feeling good in your own skin. How did you go about choosing the faces to photograph?
What I want to find with anyone is a disarming confidence, a moment between me and the subject where they truly let me in. It is an important moment between us, and it creates a photograph where the viewer can see the subject authentically. In truth, everyone is beautiful. It’s a misconception that we must adhere to beauty norms (which tend to be outdated, steeped in sexism and racism), and aren’t what actual people find most beautiful. I love looking through faces and selecting a group of people to photograph. The only problem is I want to shoot everyone! I wish I could always find more and more different people, to photograph a wider array of beautiful humanity. Often I do casting myself, but in this specific series, I worked with a wonderful casting director who understands my thoughts on casting very well.
Gucci’s Fluide De Beauté Fini Naturel and Sérum De Beauté Fluide Soyeux are tools created to enhance the natural beauty and harness the distinctive qualities of the individual. Does this vision reflect your own? How do you approach makeup in your photography projects?
Gucci’s vision of beauty, particularly for these 2 products, absolutely reflects my own. I can also say that the foundations we shot were subtle and not super covering to remove everything, but instead enhanced the subjects’ natural beauty which is exactly what I aim for. I love skin, which is obvious in my work. I always work with the makeup artist to ensure we see everyone’s skin and that it’s never covered up. And often I love to add a touch of something fun like an interesting color on the eye or the lips. It can show an element of the personality and it can also be purely visual. I love makeup that is applied in a way that reminds us of a painting.
How important it is to communicate this revolutionary message that beauty is about enhancing a person’s uniqueness and not concealing it?
It is vital to communicate the message that beauty lies in one’s own beauty. The moment we start to conceal, we remove whom we are which is actually what makes us beautiful in the first place. This viewpoint is liberating! Let’s be ourselves! It’s what makes life interesting! And wouldn’t it be rather boring if we all looked the same?
Gucci strives to be an advocate for change. Do you believe that art - and fashion photography in particular - can help change people’s gaze?
For many years the media gave us only one ideal of beauty - as a woman, as a person, this is too limiting and isn’t actually “true” or “real”. We are bombarded with it, constantly. It isn’t just nice for artists and for fashion photographers to counter this viewpoint, but it’s fundamental that we rebel against it! What if we were bombarded with something better? What would it do to the system if people and consumers discovered that, in truth, everyone really does have their own unique beauty? As artists and fashion photographers, we have a responsibility to do this - to help people make this discovery.
What does this editorial tell us about your artistic research?
Beauty is infinite. My work is really about the human condition. What is inside, what is outside. Skin, bones, thoughts. This project is another small peek into the vastness of people. People's happiness. When we smile, what does this mean? Is happiness relative? What is making us smile, what makes us happy?