Serge Lutens

Serge Lutens (born 14 March 1942, in Lille, France) is a French photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfume art-director and fashion designer.

Biography

At fourteen, Serge Lutens was taken as an apprentice by a prestigious hair salon of Lille, a period which he described as crucial to his appreciation of beauty in three dimensions.cite journal|author=Norah Nona|year=2008|month=January|title=Icon of Beauty - Serge Lutens|journal= [http://www.woundmagazine.com Wound Magazine] |volume=1|issue=2|pages=159| publisher=Francis Malone|location=London|issn=1755-800X] He soon started to experiment with makeup and photography, using his friends to pose as models. In 1962 he moved to Paris. After seeing his work, Vogue magazine hired him to create makeup, hair and jewellery. Throughout the sixties he collaborated with great photographers such as Richard Avedon, Bob Richardson and Irving Penn. By 1967 Christian Dior had commissioned him to create a makeup line which Vogue USA called "A revolution in makeup."

His 1973 series of photographs inspired by the great masters Claude Monet, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani, was shown at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as other museums around the world. In the mid 1970s he directed two short art films "Les Stars" (1974) and "Suaire" (1976), and both were shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

However, it wasn’t until 1980 that Lutens took his rightful place as an true innovator when the Japanese group Shiseido hired him to develop their image internationally. His exquisite pioneering looks for Shiseido were breathtakingly beautiful and precise, and throughout the 1980s he shot numerous advertising campaigns and films and also designed makeup and packaging. His works won him two 'Lions d’Or' at the International Advertising Film Festival.

In 1982, Shiseido commissioned him to create the fragrance "Nombre Noir". Both the fragrance and its packaging were considered ahead of their time. In 1990 he received "Le Grand Prix" at the International Art Film Festival, sponsored by UNESCO. In the early 1990s he conceived and designed the now famous "Les Salons du Palais Royal", a house of perfume.cite web|url=http://www.salons-shiseido.com/anglais/html/les_salons.htm|title=Les Salons du Palais Royal|work=Shiseido Paris|accessdate=2008-01-27] In 2000, he launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens". For four consecutive years, 2001 to 2004, he 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 the artist re-created scents from the city of his childhood such as rain, earth and leaves.

In 2006 the "Sommet du Luxe" awarded him 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 lives in Marrakech, 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 perfumer Christopher Sheldrake. These perfumes include Chergui and Rousse, among others.

References

External links

* [http://www.sergelutens.com/main_uk.htm Official Website]
* [http://www.salons-shiseido.com/anglais/html/parfums.htm]
* [http://www.lumiere.com/beauty/96/08/serge-lutens/ Serge Lutens - of Scents and Sensibility]
* [http://paris.blog.lemonde.fr/category/serge-lutens-architecte-de-la-mode]