Not to be outdone by MAC, which revealed plans for a Marilyn Monroe-inspired makeup collection in February, the cosmetics company Nars announced it will launch “Nars Andy Warhol,” a limited edition collection of bright, punchy hues based on the Prince of Pop’s deadpan silk screens of celebrities and mundane consumer items. The company, celebrated in makeup circles for its slick, minimalist packaging and deliberately provocative names for blush (“Deep Throat,” “Orgasm”) has teamed up with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the new line of “innovative packaging, formulas, and shades,” evocative of “the cool, image-rich, character-laden world of Warhol,” reports Women’s Wear Daily.
More than 20 years after his death, the artist who invented the artist-as-celebrity-as-brand paradigm is the 13th-richest famous dead person of all time, and the third-richest visual artist behind Charles Schutz and Theodor (Dr.) Seuss Geisel. This is due to the Andy Warhol Foundation’s indiscriminate product licensing policies. The artist’s persona has been lent to everything from Diane von Furstenberg swimsuits to iPhone cases.
“Nars Andy Warhol” is slated to hit stores in the United States in October and globally in November. No doubt “Campbell’s Soup” lipstick and “Blue Jackie” mascara would fly off the shelves in our color-saturated post-pop beauty moment. One can’t help but notice shades of Warholian artifice in Nicki Minaj’s cotton candy pout, Katy Perry’s smurf-colored hair, and Lady Gaga’s whole persona. No word on whether living Pop artists will follow suit. Somehow, a Claes Oldenburg-inspired bronzer sounds less marketable.