Rouge Coco: Chanel gets an A+ in lipstick namingThis March, Chanel will relaunch its flagship lipsti

Rouge Coco: Chanel gets an A+ in lipstick naming

This March, Chanel will relaunch its flagship lipstick range Rouge Coco, first commercialised in 2010. The lipstick has a new formula and an array of new shades.

Naming make-up hues answers to the same requirements as naming any luxury product: it needs to be aligned with the brand’s values, history, perception and with the way it wants to market the item. For beauty, the additional challenge is to appeal to the aspirational customer who might make their first brand purchase via make-up.

Inits previous, currently-on-the-shelves iteration, the Rouge Coco shades were somewhat related to Chanel’s history, with names such as Cambon, Gabrielle, Magnolia, and even Superstition (Coco Chanel was highly superstitious).

For 2015, Chanel has tightened its lipstick-naming strategy, looking to its founder’s nearest and dearest: her lovers for the reds, her family for the nudes, her muses for the corals, her best friends for the pinks and artists for the plums.  

I love both the idea and the execution. Chanel is one of the few fashion houses who has managed to keep its founder’s mystique alive and central to its marketing. The Rouge Coco naming is the latest example of it.

Digital storytelling in the US and France

Although the relaunch has yet to happen, the new Rouge Coco has already been announced on the Chanel websites. The associated storytelling very much depends on the market and country.

In the US, the brand only lists shade names alongside visuals of the product. It does with the background in an introductory paragraph, never going into the details of who each colour was, which I found quite frustrating.

‘[…] named for Coco Chanel and the friends, artists and lovers who inspired her. Five colour ranges celebrate her intimate circles. Every shade tells a story … a colourful expression of Mademoiselle’s life and legend’ (Chanel.com United-States, retrieved 18 February 2015)

On its French website on the other hand, Chanel delivers high-level biographical details of the men and women behind the shade names, each following a set format: opening with two adjectives describing the spirit of the shade; a short sentence explaining the spirit of the woman who would wear it; and a closing sentence explaining who the shade is named after.  

For instance, for the red Arthur: ‘Free and determined. For the bravest who listens to her heart. Named for Arthur Boy Capel, Coco Chanel’s greatest love.’ (Chanel.com France, retrieved 19 February 2015, translation my own)

Or the deep plum Emilienne: ‘Atypical and charismatic. For avant-gardists ready to take the lead. Inspired by music-hall artist Emilienne d’Alençon, one of the first to wear Chanel.’ (Chanel.com France, retrieved 19 February 2015, translation my own)

And finally, the bright coral Coco. Despite her extensive network, Chanel was always about Chanel: ‘Radiant and at ease with herself. For the impulsive who fully lives and grabs the moment. Just like Coco Chanel.’ (Chanel.com France, retrieved 19 February 2015, translation my own)

Chanel currently holds two spots on the top 10 best-selling female fragrance list in the US with Coco Mademoiselle and No.5. Yet Gabrielle Chanel, the woman, doesn’t enjoy the same fame there as she does in France where, as part of the national culture, she is the subject of multiple biopics and biographies.

For instance, Anne Fontaine’s 2009 movie Coco avant Chanel only made $6,113,834 in the US compared to $8,680,317 in France, despite a much smaller market (Box Office Mojo data). Starring Audrey Tautou, the film focused on the early Chanel years: her friendship with Emilienne (Emmanuelle Devos), her love story with Étienne Balsan (a dramatic red in the Rouge Coco range, in the film played by Benoit Poelvoorde) and her eventual decision to leave him for Boy Capel (Alessandro Nivola).

The same year, Jan Kounen’s Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky told the affair between Mademoiselle (Anna Mouglalis) and the famed music composer (Mads Mikkelsen).

“Igor” is absent from the Rouge Coco range. Maybe Chanel decided to keep some names aside for later additions. Or maybe the names not mentioned say as much as the listed ones about the story Chanel wants to tell about its founder. Even though Mouglalis is a long-term house muse, the brand didn’t support Coco & Igor, while it was involved with Fontaine’s movie. In fact, Tautou was the face of Chanel No. 5 for several years.

The affair between Chanel and Stravinsky is disputed. In the beautiful and very official CHANEL and her world Friends, Fashion and Fame (I was gifted it at a Chanel PR event five years ago), Edmonde Charles-Roux describes the months Kounen shot as a torrid love affair during which “Stravinsky, who for a while had made his home in the couturière’s villa”.  Even if theirs was a platonic friendship born of shared creativity and mutual respect, I feel Igor had a space at least among the deep plums. Maybe next season.

Photos: 1, 5 and 6 from Stephanie Zwicky; 2 and 3 New Rouge Coco campaign with Keira Knightley; 4 Rouge Coco US landing page graphic; 7 - 9 Rouge Coco colours; 10 Previous Rouge Coco ad