Serge Lutens
Encyclopedia
Serge Lutens is a French photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfume
art-director and fashion designer.
Serge Lutens is most well known for his art direction and photography for Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido
in the 1980s.
In 1962 Lutens moved to Paris, where Vogue magazine hired him to create makeup, hair and jewellery.
Throughout the 1960s he collaborated with photographers such as Richard Avedon
, Bob Richardson
and Irving Penn
.
In 1967 Christian Dior
commissioned Lutens to create a makeup line.
Lutens' 1973 series of photographs (inspired by the artists Claude Monet
, Georges-Pierre Seurat
, Pablo Picasso
and Amedeo Modigliani
) was shown at the Guggenheim Museum
in New York. In the mid-1970s he directed two short art films, "Les Stars" (1974) and "Suaire" (1976). Both were shown at the Cannes Film Festival
.
Shiseido
hired Lutens in 1980 to develop their product image. Throughout the 1980s he shot various advertising campaigns and films and designed makeup and packaging.
These works won him two 'Lions d’Or' at the International Advertising Film Festival
.
In 1982, Shiseido commissioned Lutens to create a fragrance called "Nombre Noir".
In the early 1990s Lutens conceived and designed the "Les Salons du Palais Royal", a house of perfume.
In 2000, Lutens launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens".
For four consecutive years, 2001 to 2004, Lutens was awarded the "Fifi Award" for best Original Concept. In 2004 he was selected to participate in "Lille 2004 – European Capital City", where he erected his "Olfactory Maze" an installation of concrete and light where he recreated scents from the city of his childhood such as rain, earth and leaves.
In 2006 the "Sommet du Luxe" awarded Lutens the "Talent d’Or", and in 2007 the French Government gave him the title of "Commandeur" in the Order of Arts and Letters
.
Serge Lutens currently lives in Marrakech
, Morocco.
Christopher Sheldrake
. These perfumes include Ambre Sultan and Chergui, among others.
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
art-director and fashion designer.
Serge Lutens is most well known for his art direction and photography for Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido
Shiseido
is a major Japanese hair care and cosmetics producer. It is the oldest cosmetics company in the world and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world.-History:...
in the 1980s.
Abridged career
At fourteen, Serge Lutens was taken on as an apprentice by a hair salon in Lille, a period which he described as crucial to his appreciation of beauty in three dimensions. Lutens started to experiment with makeup and photography, using friends to pose as models.In 1962 Lutens moved to Paris, where Vogue magazine hired him to create makeup, hair and jewellery.
Throughout the 1960s he collaborated with photographers such as Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, Bob Richardson
Bob Richardson (photographer)
Bob George Richardson was an American fashion photographer. He is credited with bringing a street aesthetic and visceralness into fashion photography...
and Irving Penn
Irving Penn
Irving Penn was an American photographer known for his portraiture and fashion photography.-Early career:Irving Penn studied under Alexey Brodovitch at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art from which he was graduated in 1938. Penn's drawings were published by Harper's Bazaar and he...
.
In 1967 Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
commissioned Lutens to create a makeup line.
Lutens' 1973 series of photographs (inspired by the artists Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, Georges-Pierre Seurat
Georges-Pierre Seurat
Georges-Pierre Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist painter and draftsman. He is noted for his innovative use of drawing media and for devising a technique of painting known as pointillism...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
) was shown at the Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York. In the mid-1970s he directed two short art films, "Les Stars" (1974) and "Suaire" (1976). Both were shown at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
Shiseido
Shiseido
is a major Japanese hair care and cosmetics producer. It is the oldest cosmetics company in the world and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world.-History:...
hired Lutens in 1980 to develop their product image. Throughout the 1980s he shot various advertising campaigns and films and designed makeup and packaging.
These works won him two 'Lions d’Or' at the International Advertising Film Festival
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...
.
In 1982, Shiseido commissioned Lutens to create a fragrance called "Nombre Noir".
In the early 1990s Lutens conceived and designed the "Les Salons du Palais Royal", a house of perfume.
In 2000, Lutens launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens".
For four consecutive years, 2001 to 2004, Lutens was awarded the "Fifi Award" for best Original Concept. In 2004 he was selected to participate in "Lille 2004 – European Capital City", where he erected his "Olfactory Maze" an installation of concrete and light where he recreated scents from the city of his childhood such as rain, earth and leaves.
In 2006 the "Sommet du Luxe" awarded Lutens the "Talent d’Or", and in 2007 the French Government gave him the title of "Commandeur" in the Order of Arts and Letters
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
.
Serge Lutens currently lives in Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
, Morocco.
Books
- L'Esprit Serge Lutens: The Spirit of Beauty (Editions Assouline, Paris, 1992) (ISBN 2-908228-05-X)
- Serge Lutens (Editions Assouline, Paris, 1998) (ISBN 2-84323-066-7)
Perfume
Serge Lutens' own brand perfumes were conceived by him with the close cooperation of perfumerPerfumer
A perfumer is a term used for an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a Nose due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions...
Christopher Sheldrake
Christopher Sheldrake
Christopher Sheldrake is a perfumer.He has worked for Quest International, and has created perfumes for Shiseido, Serge Lutens, Rochas, Avon and SpaceNK. In 2005, he was made Director of Research & Development for fragrances at Chanel.-External links:...
. These perfumes include Ambre Sultan and Chergui, among others.