Born in American, made in Japan
Jill Stuart cosmetics find a home in Bangkok
When American designer Jill Stuart expanded her reach from clothes to beauty products more than 20 years ago, she turned not to the US market but to Japan. Today, despite its Western-sounded name, Jill Stuart cosmetics is 100-per-cent Japanese, and now the popular range of makeup has found its way to Thailand with the opening of a counter at high-end shopping mall Siam Paragon.
“The Jill Stuart look is innocent but sexy while the packaging is luxury vintage. That’s what makes us unique,” says brand manager Mayumi Sato, adding that the DNA of the brand is based on the designer’s belief that women are at their most attractive when they are in their transitional period – going from girlhood into womanhood.
Yoshifumi Yamamoto, managing director of Kose (Thailand) joined Sato at the recent launch, which drew long queues of Thai ladies who previously had stocked up on their Jill Stuart goodies on trips to Japan/
“Stuart, who introduced her first fashion collection back in 1992, visited Japan the following year and was blown away by Japanese fashion. She defined it as ‘happy and kawaii’, meaning ‘cuteness’. The makeup collection was launched soon after and focused on creating a pure and sweet facial expression reminiscent of a young girl but with the allure of a grown-up woman. Our most popular items are the Mix brush cheek colour and the Jewellery eye colour, which comes in several misty shades,” Sato explains.
Yamamoto adds that Kose has carefully researched its potential markets over the last six years. “We checked the number of visitors to Jill Stuart’s Facebook page and found that Thai users were the third biggest group, followed by the Japanese and Chinese. We’ve also seen that more and more Thai customers are visiting the Jill Stuart beauty counters in shopping malls and duty free shops so it made sense to open here.”
“Stuart’s creativity is coherent with her fashion design and she hosts regular shows using the beauty products for her runway look. Once she unveils her new collection, the cosmetic team gets to work as it can take one year for the production of the beauty range but only six months for the clothes,” Sato adds.
“We use black eyeliner and pink eye shadow to create a ‘Jill’ girl, with a cute vibe and a sensual look. Juicy fruit scents are mixed with seductive floral fragrances.”
Rosemary, lavender and rosehip are key components in Stuart’s range of products. The flowers and leaves of rosemary strengthen, tighten and hydrate the skin while inhibiting sebum production. Lavender oil acts as an emollient and eases inflammations and sores while rosehip oil, extracted from the bright red fruit that appear after wild roses bloom, contains a highly concentrated amount of essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and fat-soluble vitamins, which combine to prevent ageing in the skin. Wild Rose extract is also used to calm sunburn and tone down pigmentation.
The full range of Jill Stuart beauty products, which are all made in Japan, will be available in Thailand. In addition to makeup, they include shower cream, lotion, nail polish, fragrance and sunscreen plus such essentials as make-up brushes, make-up bags, pocket mirrors, eyelash curlers and soft towels.
