The Marc Jacobs line was officially available yesterday, August 9th with a slew of creative and fun names like Fluorescent Beige and Surrender Dorothy. Sylvie Rouaix, VP, Brand Marketing and Product Development, Kendo tells Sephora’s Holly Seigel the stories behind the shade names.
How did you work on names for the Marc Jacobs Beauty products?
Our process was a bit novel and not HR-friendly! We tried to immerse ourselves in Marc’s passions: we screened his favorite movies, with probably a good amount being foreign (French for the most part) and with complicated relationships and often with sexual tension. For a few months, I expected a call from HR, asking us to tone down the viewing of all the fun materials!
How did Marc come to be so involved in naming the products and shades?
After meeting Marc, I discovered how talented he was around words. He is very comfortable with language and is very specific and incredibly clever. I think that saying that he is a wordsmith is an understatement. Like his fashion and anything else he touches, he is a genius. (Ok, I may have fallen in love in the 18-month process.) None of us expected that he’d enjoy the tireless naming sessions for products and shades while scouring through inspirations.
What was the process like?
Often, shades would change: Diane [Kendal, Beauty and Product Consultant] would suggest a different way of looking at a shade or Marc or I would, and it’d start a whole new naming stream. Marc would send us notes in between our monthly meetings when he had found an inspiration or had come up with various names. He’d often come to the meetings with a pile—seriously a pile—of yellow Post-It notes he had collected for a month. He’d wake up and jot down names; he’d be inspired and jot down some more…Creativity does not lack when Marc is involved! Then, we’d run the names through legal, and the fun began. A lot of the most fabulous names were left out on the editing floor!
