Chanel is dropping its first book dedicated to beauty. Titled Chanel: The Allure of Makeup, it flips through a near-century of the house’s evolving approach to color—from the first palette in 1924 to the visuals shaping runways now. Think rare ad archives, loose sketches, and early campaigns that set the stage for how we see beauty today. Written by journalist Natasha A. Fraser, it pulls back the curtain on a world the brand has kept largely off-limits, drawing on never-before-seen material and images of Gabrielle Chanel herself.
Launched in 1924, Chanel’s initial makeup collection changed the conversation around beauty. It set the tone for what would become a global empire, with products like Rouge Coco lipsticks and the ever-recognized N°5 fragrance becoming shorthand for French-girl cool. Under Karl Lagerfeld’s creative direction—spanning 1983 to 2019—the label cemented its hold on fashion, and its cosmetics followed suit, staying relevant through shifts in trends and technology. Fast-forward to 2024: following a star-studded Cruise 2023/2024 show in Los Angeles and rolling out new hits like its Paris-Paris fragrance, Chanel still gets people talking. Now, Chanel: The Allure of Makeup is a chance to see how the brand first found its voice in beauty—and how it keeps reimagining the language.
