Armani Is Bringing Its Luxury Beauty Brand To New Zealand

By Janetta Mackay
Viva
Giorgio Armani beauty products and fragrances will be available at Smith & Caughey's. Picture / Giorgio Armani A/W 2018 collection

Luxury beauty brand Armani is launching in New Zealand, so you can transform yourself in true jet-set Italian style. The coveted cosmetics will arrive here in July, to be sold exclusively within Smith & Caughey’s Queen St store.

Local beauty fans will be familiar with the sumptuous suite of Armani fragrances and have heard about the velvety foundations and luminous lip colours, but they can now expect to be introduced to an extensive range of other makeup and skincare. Armani Privé Haute Couture fragrances will also be available here for the first time.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Picture / Supplied
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Picture / Supplied

“I believe that beauty comes first from within. My creations are made not to disguise or hide an individual’s personality, but to reveal it,” says brand founder Giorgio Armani.

The revered Italian designer is credited with streamlining fashion with his trouser suits and simple shifts and to have defined red-carpet elegance in dressing a series of Hollywood celebrities over the decades.

A current favourite fashion muse is actress Cate Blanchett, who also models for his Si perfume collection.

Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Liquid Lipstick. Picture / Supplied
Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Liquid Lipstick. Picture / Supplied

As you’d expect from this maestro of minimalism, the Armani take on beauty is as elegant and polished as his outfits. Creative direction comes from celebrated makeup artist Linda Cantello, who steers backstage beauty, with many of the brand’s cult products first introduced in tandem with fashion collections.

Among items to look out for are:

  • Luminous Silk Foundation, which will retail in New Zealand for $109. Inspired by silk charmeuse, this glides on flawlessly and is known for imparting a lit-from-within glow.
  • Lip Magnet Liquid Lipstick, $64, a near weightless-feel gloss with intense colour and a chic matte finish in a long-lasting formula.
  • Prima Glow-On Moisturising Balm, $142, a cornerstone of the Armani Prima Line which creates an ideal canvas for makeup and also skincare benefits over time from hydrating, replumping and retexturising skin.
  • Eyes to Kill Mascara, $63, for all-in-one impact from an oversize patented brush to lash on volume, length and definition in one coat.

The Italian billionaire launched Giorgio Armani Fragrances & Beauty in 2000. To showcase the brand, its Smith & Caughey’s counter will feature a new retail design with open architecture and curved lines.

This is to better invite customers to the counter to experiment independently or consult with “face designers”.  Red lacquer is a feature of the design, matched to the brand’s iconic lipstick shade Rouge #400.

The beauty boutique opening is the latest sign of the appetite for prestige and designer products and high-end retailing in Auckland becoming more and more international.

It won’t be the last.

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