Feng Chen Wang is casting her eye on cosmetics. The Chinese-born, London-based designer has teamed up with Estée Lauder to launch a makeup collection inspired by her Fujianese heritage.
The collaboration marks the designer's first foray into beauty, a space that she regards as a natural extension of style. "Fashion isn’t confined to just garments or accessories," she tells Highsnobiety. "Like garments, makeup is an extension of our self-expression and sits closest to our skin."
It comes as no surprise, then, that Wang's Estée Lauder collection is an extension of her clothing. Incorporating motifs such as bamboo, Chinese landscape paintings, and phoenixes, Wang's fashion often serves as a meditation on her native Fujian. Dealing in similar motifs, her makeup debut is both an offshoot of her fashion label, and an homage to her hometown.
Take the Pure Color Sculpt & Glow Multi-Tasking Palette, for example: The earthy shades included in the six-pan compact draw from the mountains of her hometown. The entire range is housed in a bamboo box carved with the silhouette of a phoenix, a sort of metaphor for Wang's design ethos.
She explains that the symbolism of the phoenix — or feng huang — differs slightly between the East and West. While Europeans might interpret the bird as a stand-in for rebirth or revival, it symbolizes the union of yin and yang in Asian culture. "Unlike the West, which presents the mythical phoenix as a male, the Chinese Phoenix is depicted as both male and female. I see the Phoenix as a symbol of gender liberation, which is one of [my] brand's ethos."
Whether she's creating two-in-one takes on the Converse Chuck 70 or making her mark on beauty with Estée Lauder, Feng Chen Wang always manages to create something visually arresting. Head to the designer's website to explore her latest endeavor.
