Chanel launches first full make-up collection linked to Rouge Noir

Chanel is launching its first-ever collection linked to one of its most successful products, Rouge Noir, the nail colour first launched more than 30 years ago.

It’s a canny move with the product having had a very high profile since its 1994 launch when Le Vernis Rouge Noir’s very dark reddish black made that year’s autumn/winter ready-to-wear show something to talk about on multiple fronts.

The updated vision for Rouge Noir comes from the creative vision of Ammy Drammeh with the ‘brand’ stretched to multiple products and multiple colours across eyes, lips and nails.

Shades move from red to black, giving way to deep magentas. There are rose-grey and satiny mauve-brown tones to adorn the eyes with purplish pink, brick brown, mauve-beige, and of course, Rouge Noir for the lips.

As mentioned, Rouge Noir has enjoyed enduring fame beyond its short-term impact. Originally created for the catwalk as Heidi Morawetz mixed black and red to create the effect she was looking for, it sold out fast when it went into production and has been credited by some as being the colour that revived interest in nail enamels.

After many years of Chanel’s best-selling colour being a pale pink (Ballerina), suddenly this reddish-black was a world sensation, the hype also being helped by Uma Thurman wearing it in Pulp Fiction.

It will be interesting to see how it fares in its new incarnation as a complete collection. The company is giving it all the help it can with a high-impact campaign for the launch fronted by Japanese actress Nana Komatsu.