For Kilian Hennessy, founder of legendary fragrance house Kilian Paris, perfume is about exploring the many facets of one's personality. In the words of the French mogul himself: "You're not always one woman or one man every day, every hour of the day."

Thus, it's inevitable that Kilian Paris would eventually expand into makeup, another medium that allows us to transform into different characters according to our whims and desires. On April 20, the brand unveiled its next move: a dedicated makeup division helmed by Sir John, the mind behind some of Beyoncé's most notable beauty moments.

Hot on the heels of the announcement, Highsnobiety hopped on Zoom with Hennessy and Sir John, Kilian Paris' first-ever creative director of makeup, to chat about their newfound partnership, the power of cosmetics and fragrance, and why nighttime is the best time.

Highsnobiety: First off, congratulations on this exciting new development. How did you two first meet?

Kilian Hennessy: We actually met in Paris during fashion week. That was roughly, what, one year ago? We met for lunch at Hotel Costes. It was a way for the team to see if our energies would work well together. It's all about energy — either I get great vibes and I know it's going to work well, or I don't get those vibes and there's no way I can start it.

We had a really nice lunch and met a few weeks later to do trials. At one point I remember saying to Sir John that I would love to create a cognac look — a cognac eye to have a real point of differentiation, something that would be unique to the brand because my family comes from the Hennessy cognac [empire]. I think he worked two or four hours on that look. What I love about him is that he kept working on it. One day he sent me an email saying, "A little surprise for you." And he did the cognac eyes on, who was it, Beyoncé?

Sir John: For the cover of British Vogue in July.

Highsnobiety: Amazing.

Sir John: This guy's funny. He's hilarious. I remember meeting him in Paris and he had such a great sense of humor. I felt really at home, even though there's a world between us.

Fragrances are feelings. Beauty is a feeling. When you think about beauty, it's not just transactional. It's not, "Oh, I need to put on my lipstick" — no, it's emotional. When we spray something on, it can translate to how we want to look, how we want to show up, how we want to feel.

Highsnobiety: Describe Kilian Paris makeup as a feeling.

Sir John: Be audacious. Don't be shy, don't turn away from the magic. It's okay to embrace your magic, embrace your inner self. There's a self-fulfilling prophecy when you spray on a fragrance — it moves the needle for you emotionally. You feel like there's protection, there's armor.

Highsnobiety: In 2019, Kilian Paris launched a line of scented lipsticks. What pushed the brand to expand further into the realm of cosmetics?

Hennessy: I truly believe that makeup, like perfume, has the ability to make you feel better in your own skin. When you think about the brand, we have [fragrance] names that are potential facets of everyone's personality: Good Girl Gone Bad, Straight to Heaven, Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi, Can't Stop Loving You. You want to have the "Good Girl Gone Bad" look. You want to have the look that says, "Do you want to sleep with me?" You want the look that says, "I want to go straight to heaven tonight." With lips only, it's hard.

Lips are very important. But eyes convey intelligence, convey charm, convey elegance, convey so many messages. Sometimes words are useless, and everything goes through the eyes. I needed eyes and lips in order to achieve the looks that I had in mind.

Highsnobiety: Is it safe to say that we can expect some eyeshadows from the brand?

Hennessy: Oh, it's very safe. And a few more surprises.

Sir John: Whenever you look at the face, you look at what vehicles convey emotion. There's an emotive quality [in our] lips, the eyes have it. Complexion also conveys so much: You can tell how much alcohol they consume, how much time they have to vacation or holiday, How much water they ingest. Any area that communicates something is where we want to jam.

Hennessy: We want to own the night. At night, you can let loose of a lot of préjugés, or stereotypes. When you go to work, you feel like you have to portray a certain image. At night, you allow yourself to play more with different facets of your personality.

Sir John:  Every cosmetics company I've ever worked for has approached makeup from the A.M. — from mornings, from meetings, from, "How do I get ready for my day?" I love [Kilian's] direction, because this is what everyone looks forward to: Everyone looks forward to getting off work. Everyone looks forward to engaging. Everyone looks forward to dinner or shaking what your mama gave you on a dance floor. It's really fun to be able to have an offering that will speak to the night.

Highsnobiety: Kilian's fragrances have such a distinct aesthetic — they're very opulent. I'm assuming that this will carry over to the makeup.

Sir John: Kilian's a fancy guy. He doesn't even wear sneakers. I'm going shake him up a little bit and get him in a pair of Dunks one day. But I will say that the packaging is key... As a society, we've been through so much. Any pocket of happiness from a small, shiny thing that we can carry with us is really key in this moment, more so than ever before.

Hennessy: All my bottles are refillable, because I believe that once you create a beautiful object, you have to give the customer a reason to keep it forever. You can be sure that the next lipstick will be refillable and will be a beautiful object that women will want to keep in their bag.

Highsnobiety: So you mentioned products for the eyes. Is there anything else you can share about other products that are in the pipeline?

Sir John: So, I have a question for you. Have you ever smelled a Kilian fragrance before?

Highsnobiety: Of course.

Sir John: What's your favorite?

Highsnobiety: My favorite right now is Can't Stop Loving You. How about you?

Sir John: It changes, but Angels' Share just does something to me. I love Rose Oud. Smoke For The Soul is really intoxicating as well. If you had to close your eyes and imagine for a second, what would you say is our next drop?

Highsnobiety: Based on what you guys have shared with me, I want to say an eyeshadow palette. I could also see a blush.

Sir John: Cream or powder?

Highsnobiety: I'm going to say powder.

Sir John: Give me one more item.

Highsnobiety: I could see a mascara as well.

Sir John: Oh, absolutely. Abso-freaking-lutely. From your lips to God's ears, babe. Honestly, We're going to flush this right up the pipeline.

Highsnobiety: Is there anything else you can share about the future of Kilian Paris?

Sir John: I have an idea and hopefully it can be a prediction. Everyone should have access to beauty. I understand that craftsmanship, quality, consistency are key when you think about luxury. But luxury hasn't always been as inclusive as it needs to be. It hasn't always been as inviting. When I look at beauty, I think it should be for him, for her, for they, for them... So my job is to make sure that we see ourselves. Visual representation matters.