Ultima II
In 1983,
Revlon hired Kevyn Aucoin, at the age of 21, as Creative Director for their prestige Ultima II line of cosmetics. A year later, Aucoin would launch
The New Nakeds (later renamed
The Nakeds), a groundbreaking line that was a strong counterpoint to cosmetics available at the time. Says
Linda Wells, editor of
Allure magazine, of the line: "It may not seem like it, but it was a powerful moment. Before, there were makeup lines for white women and others for black women. But he worked to design makeup for all skin tones. The idea was to empower a woman by revealing her natural beauty, and not to cover her up with layers of product."
[3]
The New Nakeds
The New Nakeds embraced a radically different aesthetic than the norm of the time:
foundations that featured a yellow undertone, instead of pink or peach;
eyeshadows,
lipstick and
blushes were brown-based, neutral tones that were free of the pastel, vivid, or sparkly colours cosmetics companies knew sold better.
[4] Although Ultima II (and all of Revlon's beauty divisions) were in a decline at the time,
[5] the New Nakeds resuscitated interest in the brand and help re-establish Ultima II as a viable competitor in the prestige arena.
The colors, textures and finishes Aucoin created in the New Nakeds would serve as the most influential direction of the latter part of the century, and visible as brands
MAC,
Bobbi Brown, and
Laura Mercier all launched with their version of the products Aucoin created years earlier.
Kevyn Aucoin Cosmetics
Later, Aucoin would work with Japanese cosmetics giant
Shiseido on their Inoui line.
[6] He would later be approached by both
Vincent Longo and
Laura Mercier to endorse their eponymous lines,
[7] but decided to launch his own brand, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty, in 2001 instead.