The New M.A.C Collection is One of The Brand’s Most Glam Collabs To Date

Who better than high fashion duo Phillipe and David Blond to collaborate with M.A.C Cosmetics on a new collection? The pair, who are the designers behind luxe label The Blonds, previously worked as makeup artists for the company.

Since then, they’ve dressed a ton of celebrities, their work most recently on display at Toronto’s own iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards this past weekend, where both Meghan Trainor and Bebe Rexha walked the carpet in their looks.

This new gender-neutral collection with M.A.C, titled “Bombshell Essentials,” is all about glam and we had a chance to chat with the pair about the new collab.

The collection will launch September 6th online only and include lipsticks, glosses, a powder compact, brush, eyeliner and a bedazzled pair of false lashes.

Phillipe, I know that in one of your previous interviews you said that your beauty essential was a M.A.C lipstick, so how excited are you both to collaborate with a brand that you’ve used for so long?

It’s really just a dream come true, a perfect match and marriage. We’ve been working with M.A.C for over ten years, collaborating on different projects and, of course, the shows. We’ve just come full circle with this collection.

So with the collection, what was the vibe that you were going for? What was it that you really wanted to showcase?

We really wanted to showcase the DNA of the brand and show what a collaboration between The Blonds and M.A.C would look like. And we feel like we achieved something that was beyond expectation. From the packaging to the product, it’s really incredible. We wanted to be as inclusive as possible and make shades that were traditionally classic but with a twist. That’s sort of the direction we take with our own collections. We always take classic silhouettes and then we utilize unconventional materials or create surprises in different ways by using things people wouldn’t usually expect.

We also wanted people to take this and make it their own. You know, go from day to night, transform your look and just have fun with it. It’s really great because it’s something anyone can use.

Another thing that makes it exciting is that it’s really sort of a collectible piece. Buy one to use and save one for later! It’s definitely something that you just want to have out on your vanity to look at.

And how did you come up with the packaging? Is it based off of any of your looks in particular? 

It’s based on one of our first corsets we did. Beyoncé wore it in her video, Upgrade U. Every time we’re designing something or every time we have something in mind, we always go back into our archives and get a feeling for what inspired us. We definitely wanted this to be special that way. When you look at the compact, which is the centerpiece of the collection, it’s almost like having a small piece of one of our looks from one of the shows. It’s like a mini corset.

And how long has this collaboration been in the works?

We’ve been having this conversation since the beginning when we first started working with M.A.C, so it’s been quite some time. We’ve thought about this for so long. But technically, to create the collection, it took like two years. We did a lot of research on what we wanted to do, we went through a lot of different formulas, a lot of different trials, and really just narrowed it down to what we thought were the essential things needed for someone to create a dramatic look.

Is there any celeb that you look to for beauty inspiration?

We take most of our inspiration from old Hollywood films. There were these amazing movie stars. Their faces had to say a lot. We’ll always examine those details because there wasn’t that much technology back then, so you sort of had to use what you had and make it work. We’ve always found that fascinating.

Do you have a favourite piece from the collab?

The red lipstick, the eyelashes, which have little crystals on them, and also the compact. I mean, it’s really hard to decide because the whole collection is our favourite. We decided on which products we used consistently and which products were our favourite within the M.A.C product line in general, and then we tried to add our own twist with these custom colours we developed.

Photography courtest of M.A.C Cosmetics

Did you create all the names yourself?

Of course, we obviously needed things named after ourselves! And each name that we placed on each product has significance and means something to us. The red lipstick is Phillipe Blond and the nude is David Blonde and then we have glosses named Fifi Blonde and Bijoux Blonde, which are our puppies. So it’s all in the family.

I know you guys have done collabs before, for example, the bedazzled Barbie you helped create with Mattel. Is there anyone else you’d love to work with in the future? 

Janet Jackson, we haven’t dressed her before. We also love up and coming artists. Artists that are young, that are still trying to find their style. That’s always refreshing. Music is one of our biggest inspirations so we love to see new artists like Due Lipa or Kim Petras. Aside from that, we’d love to get more into film, not just music but movies too.

Do you have a favourite collab?

It’s funny because people ask us this question quite often and it’s really hard to choose. There is no time that we don’t love our job and every day is different. That’s the best part about it, every day is surprising and every day is inspiring and it’s always fun.

Do you see The Blonds diving more into makeup in the future? Maybe creating your own line?

I don’t know. Like we’ve said before, makeup is one of the things that has inspired us the most. It always helps us to complete our looks for fashion week and move the story along. Getting to have this collaboration with M.A.C is really something special.

Photography courtest of M.A.C Cosmetics

What’s one of the coolest things your job has allowed you to do?

Just express ourselves, be creative, put that energy out there and be extra glamorous!

So, what’s next for you both?

Well, we’re currently working on some new collaborations that are coming up and you guys will just have to stay tuned… Top secret!

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