ESTÉE LAUDER X DURO OLOWU

Words: Foyin Ogunrombi | Photography: Supplied

Innovative design relies on pushing boundaries to remain relevant. This is something Nigerian-born British fashion designer Duro Olowu understands well. His fashion design pays homage to his heritage by mixing vivid and bold prints, textures and patterns in an unconventional and modern way. He has dressed notable celebrities such as Michelle Obama, Solange Knowles, Iris Apfel and Tracee Ellis Ross, with accolades that include winning Vogue US and UK’s dress of the year for that Duro dress and new designer of the year at the British Fashion Awards in 2005. Naturally, his unique, luxury garment designs are perfectly suited to the Estée Lauder woman: someone with a strong sense of style and oodles of confidence.

Introducing the Estée Lauder x Duro Olowu Collection, which sees an apt coming together of makeup and fashion. Exclusive to Superbalist, the collection features six customised Estée Lauder must-haves encased in Duro’s eclectic designs, two of which are the brand new Pure Color Envy 8 Pan Sculpting Eyeshadow Palettes. Other products in the range include the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil in Onyx and Burgundy Suede and the Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Carnal and Rebellious Rose.

Anok Yai, one of the newest faces of Estée Lauder, is the Egyptian-born Sudanese model that Duro chose to be the muse of this collaboration. “[She] is a strong Black woman who represents all women as they are. She looks confident in the best way,” he says. That sense of boldness and confidence is illustrated in the two new palettes – Day and Night. The Day palette combines warm-toned pink, brown and gold shades that give you a sense of modern romance and the Night palette contains cooler, jewel-tones that can create stronger, bolder and equally wearable looks.

A balance of both matte and metallic shadows, you can easily achieve multidimensional eye makeup with these rich and pigmented shades. While the palette packaging showcases Duro designs at first glance, the lipsticks maintain Estée Lauder’s signature navy and gold packaging and surprise with a bright Duro-inspired twist when the cap is removed.

This limited-edition collection can only be purchased for a limited time at the Estée Lauder boutique store in Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, Pretoria, and online at Superbalist.