Angelina Jolie is officially the new face of Tom Ford Beauty. And not just any old face—the lips. That’s right, Angie is now the queen of lipstick, and honestly, it makes you wonder why this didn’t happen sooner. I mean, the woman practically has her own national holiday dedicated to those famous lips. But here we are, finally.
Angelina’s already repping Guerlain perfume and even moonlights as the fairy godmother for Guerlain’s “Women for Bees” program. Yes, that’s a real thing—bees have their own Jolie guardian angel. So why now, you ask? Well, with her Oscar-bait film Maria on the horizon, she probably thought, “Why not slap some lipstick on this mug and cash in?” (I imagine that exact sentence went through her mind.) WWD got the inside scoop, and I was way too amused by the business side of this.
Tom Ford Beauty is basically yelling, “SOS! We need lips to save us!” So what did they do? They went and got the most famous lips in the world, of course. The plan? Launch a whole new lipstick line in September with a whopping 18 shades. Some are oldies but goodies, and eight are shiny new shades because apparently, the world can’t have enough lipstick. And prices? Well, if you’re looking to drop a cool $62 on a lipstick, look no further! You can also get a lip pencil for the budget-friendly price of $46. Bargain, right?
But this isn’t just some lipstick reboot. No, no. This is a life raft for Tom Ford’s makeup line. Sales had been plummeting faster than your self-esteem in a middle school gym class. They needed a star to turn it around, and apparently, the SEC was keeping an eye on this lipstick drama. Tom Ford makeup has been floundering like a fish out of water ever since, well, people stopped buying it. Lipstick, specifically, was the tragic victim of this downturn.
Now that Tom Ford himself has waltzed out the door (to cry into his piles of money, no doubt), Peter Hawkings briefly took over but then decided he had better things to do. So now the brand is on the hunt for the next creative genius, and in the meantime, they’ve decided to roll out the big guns—Angelina’s lips.
Guillaume Jesel, the head honcho at Tom Ford Beauty, is treating this lipstick relaunch like the last space shuttle to the moon. He’s also doing his best Tom Ford impression by saying things like, “We need world-class talent” and “We must uphold the vision.” Translation: Please, for the love of mascara, buy our lipstick.
And oh, let’s talk about the campaign! Photographed by the dynamic duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Angelina’s rocking a shade called “Scarlet Rouge,” which I assume is code for “this red will make you feel like you’ve conquered a small country.” Angie herself, in an email probably typed while saving bees and filming Oscar-worthy dramas, said, “A good red lip needs little else.” Well, there you have it. The wisdom of the lip queen herself.
But what’s really fascinating (besides the fact that Gen Z apparently thinks Angelina is the coolest mom ever) is that Tom Ford Beauty is banking on Jolie to bring in a wide range of fans. She’s got global appeal, she’s loved by Gen Z, and let’s be real—anyone who survived the Brangelina drama still feels emotionally attached to her. Plus, she’s actually a mom to a small herd of Gen Z kids, so she’s got that “cool mom” cred built in.
And finally, in the pièce de résistance, this whole campaign is not just about pictures. Oh no, there’s going to be a film in October. Because what’s a lipstick launch without a cinematic experience, right? Maybe she’ll film it in her glamorous LA mansion or go all Hollywood vamp. Wherever it happens, you can bet the lips will be center stage.
