Isamaya Ffrench is reframing makeup as an exploration of identity and alter-egos. The artist’s eponymous makeup line, Isamaya, launched in June 2022 and has served as a master class in character building. Each of her two drops to date has channeled a distinct identity. The inaugural drop, Industrial, espoused a “hardcore” aesthetic taking cues from “leather and latex, piercings and rubber, flesh, strength, and self-possession.”

The latest collection, Wild Star, “pays homage to our inner cowgirl,” and personifies someone who “is tenacious, feisty, and holds her own,” Ffrench says. “She knows who she is and she never compromises. She’s completely in tune with her desire to feel glamorous yet powerful. She’s wild at heart.”

Donni Davy, the makeup artist behind television show Euphoria’s iconic looks, launched her own line in May 2022, riding the wave of euphoric beauty (see 51 Euphoric makeovers in “The Future 100: 2020”) that the show spawned. The Half Magic range is backed by an entertainment company, further enmeshing beauty and dramatis personae. “Half Magic grew out of the global beauty cultural phenomenon created by Euphoria fans around the world,” Michelle Liu, general manager of Half Magic, told Allure. “Creators behind the show came together to continue evolving the conversation around self-exploration and self-expression.”

The Fabricant is bringing this concept into the virtual realm. The digital-only fashion house launched Xxories, a line of virtual facial accessories, in October 2022. “Digital beauty has the potential to let us extend our identity into places we haven’t seen before,” said The Fabricant creative director Amber Slooten. It lets beauty enthusiasts “explore identities beyond this realm and discover new sides of ourselves.”

The Intelligence take

Beauty is moving “beyond being a pleasing visual expression towards something that communicates our beliefs, feelings, or personal point of view,” Michaela Larosse, head of content at The Fabricant, told Vogue Singapore. In the digital world, beauty will become a reflection of users’ shifting emotional states—opening the door to infinite identities. “We will have many different virtual selves available to us,” Larosse continued, “allowing us to express how we feel at any given moment, switching between these personas at a click.”

Explore other beauty trends that will define this year in our Future 100: 2023 Trends Forecast Report.

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