Showing posts with label Vogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vogue. Show all posts

Thursday, August 29, 2024






By Liam Hess
August 29, 2024

It’s the night before the premiere of Maria—the Pablo Larraín-directed Maria Callas biopic that is already the most talked-about film at this year’s Venice Film Festival—and its star, Angelina Jolie, is feeling reflective. “I met Pablo many years ago, and told him how much I respected him as a filmmaker and hoped to work with him one day,” Jolie tells Vogue of how she decided to take on this once-in-a-lifetime role. “To be asked to play Maria was an honor and the most challenging role I have ever taken on. Above all, because I do feel so strongly about her as an artist and as a woman that I worried about not doing her justice.”

On that, Jolie need not worry. With Maria, she delivers arguably the greatest performance in her already remarkable career, fully embodying the legendary Greek opera singer in her 1970s twilight years in Paris: her striking kohl-rimmed eyes, her fraying voice, and her tempestuous moods. To achieve it, Jolie dedicated herself to an intensive training process so that she wasn’t just delivering a portrait of Callas, but instead became her, somehow. “Pablo expected me to work very hard, and he expected me to sing,” she says. “I went into classes for six or seven months to learn to really sing, to take Italian classes, to understand and study opera, to immerse [myself in it] completely and do the work. For Maria, there was no other way.” However grueling that journey may have been, it was a process that left Jolie feeling creatively fulfilled. “I am deeply grateful to Pablo for having faith in me to do this,” she adds.

Yet there was another, equally important, element of Callas’s life that Jolie was fully committed to realizing on screen: her style. For Callas, fashion wasn’t just the clothes she dressed in every day, but an armor that allowed her to step out into an at-times hostile world. As a result, Callas became a couture client to some of the greatest designers of her day, including the Italian couturier Biki, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. (The opera star is still inspiring designers: Just look to Erdem’s fall 2024 collection, which featured gestural swoops of paint across floral gowns mimicking the designs of Salvatore Fiume’s sets in her 1953 La Scala production of Medea, accompanied by the only surviving recording of Callas speaking in Greek.)

While Jolie worked closely with Maria’s costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini on the outfits that would inform her performance, the extra sparkle that helped her embody Callas came via Cartier. Throughout her lifetime, the singer amassed an extensive collection of gems—but few were as prized as the pieces she acquired from the legendary French fine jewelry house. One such piece is a figurative Panthère brooch made in 1971, featuring one of Cartier’s signature gold panthers (complete with emeralds for eyes) sitting atop a carved white chalcedony gemstone.

It turns out Callas’s actual brooch is now in the Cartier Collection, and was worn by Jolie both in the film and at the press conference for Maria in Venice today, affixed to her black Atelier Jolie column dress. “You can imagine how special it was to wear a piece of jewelry that was hers,” Jolie tells me of wearing the brooch both during the film’s production, and being able to step onto the global stage to promote Maria with a little bit of Callas on her chest. Elsewhere in the film, Jolie also wears a Rose ouvrante 1972 flower brooch featuring diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, with a special mechanism that allows the petals to be opened and closed. “I was also charmed at how it transformed from a closed flower that then blooms,” Jolie adds. “I like to think it made her smile. The little secret in the piece.”




For Cartier, it feels like a full-circle moment too. “Like so many other important women of the time, Maria Callas chose Cartier for jewelry that reflected her personality,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style, and heritage director, before going on to quote the iconic Mexican actor María Félix: “Cartier has always been known as the jeweler of the aristocracy of blood, but also of talent.”

Tonight, Jolie will arrive on the red carpet at the Palazzo del Cinema, in one of the most hotly-anticipated fashion moments of this year’s festival. But according to Jolie, we should expect the unexpected when it comes to her Venice wardrobe. “I chose not to copy [Maria’s] looks because they are hers, and her Venice carpets were stunning, so I gave a little nod to her—in a different way,” she says, adding: “But I made sure to wear something ladylike in her honor.” (Earlier today, Jolie also wore a Saint Laurent dress with Grecian-style sleeves that served as a subtle homage to Callas.)




Still, having worked on this project for nearly two years, how does it feel now it’s finally out in the world? And ultimately, what does Jolie hope the audience will take from this movie? “I just hope this film helps Maria to be more understood and respected.” If Jolie’s performance is anything to go by, it will do all that and more.


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Thursday, September 28, 2023





While she said, “I feel a bit down these days" she was very goofy, happy, and playful in the video clips.  Whatever was making her feel "a bit down" it was only a vey small bit and it didn't sink very deep.


As always, only what appears in quotes matters.

This paragraph has predictably received the most attention and is her only oblique reference to Sept. 2016 and its aftermath.
“But I want a woman to feel safe enough that she can be soft. After I went through something where I was hurt, I had a therapist ask if I would try wearing a flowing garment. Sounds silly, but I assumed that pants and boots projected a ‘tougher’ look, a stronger me. But was I strong enough to be soft? At the time, no. I felt vulnerable. Now I wonder if I don’t know what my style is because I’m still understanding who I am at 48. I guess I’m in transition as a person.” She pauses to gather her thoughts. “I feel a bit down these days. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don’t want to get into." She adds that she started doing less film work “seven years ago, only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots. We had a lot of healing to do.  We’re still finding our footing. ” Atelier Jolie is part of this process, it seems. “I think part of this has also been therapeutic for me—to work in a creative space with people you trust and to rediscover yourself,” she says. “I’m hoping to change many aspects of my life. And this is the forward-facing one.”

"We had a lot of healing to do." The "we" refers to all of them although the biggest healing was between the kids and Brad.  They have now all healed, individually and collectively.  "We're still finding our footing" -- after healing a long and wide chasm, Brad has to walk gingerly.

The FBI FOIA case and all the others are still open.  It is keeping her from speaking openly.  And by extension causing the delay of the release of Without Blood.  She told Variety
“I read it right as I was going through the beginning of a very dark time in my life. I read it in the month that followed my divorce [from Brad Pitt in 2016],” recalls Jolie, who shot the adaptation at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. “It had the effect on me that it’s had on so many people,” Jolie says, noting that the blurb on the cover says that the book is about the complexity of the human condition.
She cannot discuss Without Blood's effect on her without discussing what happened.  Rutger Hoedemaekers posted in August that he had finished recording Without Blood's score "over a month ago." It is ready and should have been in the Fall festivals.  The delays may be why she said, "I feel a bit down these days."  She is unable to talk with her characteristic openness.  Sticking with the same vague and cryptic sentences they've resorted to post 2016.
"After I went through something where I was hurt"

"I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don’t want to get into"
Each time, she studiously avoided saying what happened.  She used a passive phrase so there is no allusion to how she was hurt or if another person was responsible.  The heavily redacted FBI report gave a broad account of what transpired, a probable cause statement was prepared but withheld from its initial FOIA response.  The only quotes on the record are dueling statements by their lawyers.  Vanity Fair quoted his unnamed sources admitting his "eruption" and "breakdown" but what is really needed is his direct, public confession.  Without an admission or conviction, there is only an alleged abuse. Their persistent silence obviously serves to principally protect and benefit Brad until they are able to talk openly.

One thing we did learn is that they were apartment hunting.  They had an apartment at the Waldorf Towers but the building that includes the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was bought by Chinese developers.  They may have sold or they may have been assured a similar sized unit in the renovated building which is still not finished.
Around lunchtime, Jolie gets a call from her driver: It seems she is running late for a rendezvous with Pax — they’re on the hunt for New York apartments.
Since Pax was specifically mentioned in the apartment hunting effort but not Zahara who was also with them, it may be for him since he is apparently involved in the creative field in lieu of going to college.  No mention of him being in any type of school.  If the floor plan she was seen holding was for one of the apartments they looked at, it looks like a 1BR.  The floor plan could mean a new development.  He may already be staying in the city since there was a sighting of Angelina with "two of her kids" at Lilia, a restaurant in Brooklyn.  At the time, only Vivienne was photographed with her at the airport.  No pap photos since she arrived Monday at JFK.



A self portrait by the probable videographer behind the posted video.  Professional looking rig.
An "A" ring.  If we had not already seen her new tattoos from late August, the state of Brad's vanishing coordinates would be an area of interest.




Angelina Jolie Shakes Up Fashion with the Launch of Atelier Jolie

BY CHIOMA NNADI
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

STYLED BY TABITHA SIMMONS

September 27, 2023

PAINT IT PINK
Angelina Jolie in an Atelier Jolie dress incorporating deadstock materials. Values of ethics, community, collaboration, and sustainability are at the heart of Jolie's new project. Fashion Editor: Tabitha Simmons.Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, November 2023.

Among downtown New York art aficionados, 57 Great Jones Street is something of a sacred site. Andy Warhol bought the two-story building in 1970, famously renting the second floor to his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat a decade later, shortly after they met. And now, with the façade almost completely covered in graffiti, it seems as if every street artist within a 30-mile radius has paid homage. “Perhaps we can do something with all the art,” says Angelina Jolie, peering out from under her enormous umbrella. It’s a drizzly Sunday morning in mid-July, and she’s fresh off the plane from Italy. Six months ago, she and her eldest daughter, Zahara, 18, a student at Spelman College in Atlanta, stumbled upon this place while hunting for downtown retail spaces. The moment they walked through the door, they knew the search was over. “I can be very impulsive, but Zahara is so grounded, decisive, and thoughtful,” Jolie says. “When she agreed, I felt we were both decided.”

GOING FOR GOLD
Jolie wears a lower-impact silk slip dress and velvet cape from Chloé x Atelier Jolie; Chloé SoHo boutique. Briony Raymond ring.

In November, the actor, director, and former UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador and Special Envoy will open the doors on Atelier Jolie, a somewhat broadly defined effort to bring her globally minded, socially conscious values to the world of fashion. She envisions it as a space of collaboration, a kind of cultural center–meets–design workshop that combines tailoring and upcycling services with a gallery space for local artisans and a café run in partnership with refugee organizations. “I’ve met a lot of artisans over the years—very capable, talented people—and I’d like to see them grow,” Jolie says as she gives me a tour of the space before the contractors go to work. Her list of collaborators includes the London-based milliner Justin Smith, the American artist Duke Riley, and South African lacemaker Pierre Fouché—but, she says, “it’s not really about fashion.” Nor is Atelier Jolie about her, she is quick to add. “I don’t want to be a big fashion designer. I want to build a house for other people to become that.” Jolie’s goal is to create community, and in that sense, her project breaks the traditional celebrity mold—one that often amplifies the cult of its founder’s personality. Atelier Jolie’s model is perhaps best compared to the Olsen twins’ The Row, where fame doesn’t overshadow the clothes, or undervalue the commitment.

TONE SETTERS
Collaborators Gabriela Hearst and Jolie wear Chloé x Atelier Jolie.

Our tour begins on the second floor, a light-filled loft furnished with high ceilings, exposed rafters, and benches of reclaimed wood where soon a team of tailors will set up shop with deadstock and artisanal fabrics. Jolie herself is modeling a pair of custom woolen gray trousers, one of multiple styles that will be available made to measure; the cost of a custom slip, say, will start around $300, with repair services that begin at $10 for a hand-painted patch. There will also be take-home mending kits and a stud-it-yourself activity station in the café that patrons can use for free.

Though the property has passed through several hands since Basquiat lived here, traces of the prolific artist remain: the graffiti tag SAMO© (pronounced same-oh)—something he coined with his friend Al Diaz—is scrawled on the concrete floor. This morning, Jolie has her own small crew in tow: the brand’s president and chief operating officer, Helen Aboah, and Giles Duley, who is advising the project on corporate impact but started his career as a music photographer, soon evolving into “an angry man with a camera,” he says, with a focus on the impact of conflict on communities around the world. “Over the last 20 years documenting humanitarian stories, I’ve seen the negative impact of Western consumerism on developing countries—from child labor, illegal extraction of minerals, pollution from the dyeing of fabrics, exploitation of farmers, and much more,” he says. “Atelier Jolie can have an incredible positive impact on artisans who have often been unrecognized and undervalued—but we also have an opportunity to start conversations about workforce exploitation, pollution, and waste.” Adds Aboah: “At the top of Angelina’s manifesto is also the idea that we are all creators.”

There are signs that the team is beginning to make its mark: Draped over the doorway is a blank canvas stenciled with the Atelier Jolie logo in white spray paint. “That was my son practicing,” Jolie says proudly of Pax, 19, who along with Zahara has been heavily involved with Atelier Jolie. As a single mother of six, Jolie considers major endeavors such as this one a project for the entire family, and she turns both expansive and personal on the subject when the conversation turns to her children. “I was 26 when I became a mother,” she tells me. “My entire life changed. Having children saved me—and taught me to be in this world differently. I think, recently, I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them. They’re better than me, because you want your children to be. Of course I’m the mother, and hopefully that safe place for them and that stability. But I’m also the one that they laugh at—and I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family.”

On our way downstairs, she and Duley decide to stage a kind of DIY art experiment: Jolie is swaddled today in one of her signature cream-​colored trench coats—by the sustainable brand Another Tomorrow—but she promptly peels it off in a brightly lit corner of the ground floor studio. “We’re trying to see if we can take photographs of tattoos,” she says, “and turn them into patches—the idea is to make your clothing your own, instead of simply getting rid of it.” She turns her back to Duley’s camera and strips to the waist, revealing her dense lattice of body art. Aboah and I move toward the door, quickly engaging in small talk in an effort to give Jolie privacy. But the movie star in the room seems unfazed.

IN THE HOUSE
From left: Helen Aboah in Briony jewelry, president and chief operating officer of Atelier Jolie; Giles Duley, Atelier Jolie’s advisor for corporate impact; and Jolie, all in Atelier Jolie designs.

The tattoos that trace Jolie’s delicate frame include a phrase in Arabic running along her right arm, translating to “strength and hope,” and another in Italian—“still it moves,” a phrase famously attributed to Galileo after his revelatory scientific observations on the solar system landed him in court. “My kids would roll their eyes if they were here,” Jolie says. “I was quite dark when I was young. I was a punk, not the popular kid—going to thrift stores, cutting things up, burning little teeny cigarette holes into things: That was me as a teenager, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Maybe that part of me wants to push back.”

For someone raised on rebellion, Jolie’s mode of dressing tends toward the minimalist and monochromatic, with a distinctly restrained and conservative bent. As a woman who’s been deeply involved with humanitarian causes for decades, she’s clearly worked hard to keep the focus on what she’s doing, not what she’s wearing. She prefers to shop for herself and work with tailors rather than celebrity stylists. “There are more books than clothes in my closet,” she allows. “I’m not someone who likes clothes to consume her life. And I don’t love the idea of being ‘influenced.’ ”

Though she’s loath to admit it, her approach to fashion has been hugely influential. Each style move she makes is fastidiously anatomized by fans on social media, and her seeming reluctance to make a spectacle of herself has only contributed to the current yen for all things quiet luxury (see also Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2023 courtroom style and the character Shiv Roy in Succession). These days a fashion website that successfully identifies Jolie’s choice of a seemingly unremarkable airport shoe can drive hundreds of thousands of clicks. And it’s precisely that power that Jolie is hoping to harness for good.

“I find it slightly funny that we are involved in fashion—I don’t think any one of us is overly ‘fashionable,’ ” she says, referring to both herself and her children. “But because we live in our clothes, it is so much a part of who we are, and something that’s important to explore, especially for young people.” The atelier is exactly the kind of place she’d like to go to with her kids. “I’ve always wanted to take my family to a place where I can say: Does your clothing really represent you? Absolutely you? And do you love it? I think the average person would not think it does. But I think tailoring does that for you.”

As Jolie tells it, the concept for her new project was born out of a desire to address conversations around self-presentation and identity head-​on. She recalls one such pivotal family discussion surrounding the Los Angeles premiere of her Marvel movie Eternals back in 2021. “I don’t tell the kids how to dress,” she says. “Even when they were little, I just put things in front of them.” The same goes for public appearances: “Nobody has to go anywhere if they don’t want to, and if they don’t want to dress up, they don’t have to.” On this particular occasion, five of her kids did—enthusiastically—dress up. And so Jolie decided to make their red carpet appearance an experiment in circular fashion, gathering pieces from her closet and letting her children choose. In the pile: a beige box-pleated Gabriela Hearst dress that Shiloh, then 15 and known for her smart suiting and boyish haircuts, opted to wear youthfully tailored to the knee. Zahara, meanwhile, selected a dazzling beaded Elie Saab dress from her mother’s storage, first seen at the Oscars in 2014. “I went vintage shopping with a few of them as well—I think Knox was wearing all vintage. The cut was quite unusual, quite cool, I thought,” says Jolie of her youngest son, then 13. “I want them to be their own people.”

PLAYING TAG
Jolie, who has selected 57 Great Jones Street—former home to one Jean-Michel Basquiat—for her new venture’s storefront, tries her hand with a bit of spray paint. Briony Raymond rings.

Later that morning, Jolie decides to pay Gabriela Hearst a visit and invites me to tag along. The pair have collaborated on a capsule collection with Chloé, consisting of evening­wear directly inspired by Jolie’s quietly sophisticated sensibilities, and Jolie is eager to tell me more about it. For Hearst, whose three-year tenure as creative director at Chloé ends this season, the project is somewhat of a last hurrah. “I didn’t realize just how few B Corp fashion companies there are out there aside from Chloé,” she says with a sigh as we ride over to Hearst’s studio in Chelsea. (B Corp certification is awarded to companies that meet high standards of social and environmental impact.) “Gaby’s worked really hard,” Jolie adds. “It’s no small feat.” She’s not wrong: Thanks to Hearst, the French house became, in 2021, the first luxury fashion brand to earn B Corp status. Having seen the effects of climate displacement firsthand, Jolie takes that achievement seriously. She parted with the UNHCR last December, and is clearly looking to explore new, more immediate ways to make a meaningful contribution. “I’ve spent over 20 years of my life working on foreign policy, and aid relief, and displacement, and laws pertaining to refugees, and I kept watching the same situation get worse and the same cycles continue,” she explains. “Now I want to shift the focus and look at how we can work in partnership with people around the world to bring not just skills training, but actual business partnership. I don’t really believe the current system is working.” Hearst sees potential in the partnership too. “I admire people who use their spotlight to illuminate those who need it,” says Hearst, who was introduced to Jolie via a mutual friend a couple of years back. “And she’s the epitome of that.”

In person, the pair have the easy rapport of old friends. They settle into Hearst’s cozy office with cups of green tea, and their conversation turns playful. “Remember when we had that hilarious Zoom call?” says Jolie. “We were both half naked, trying clothes on for each other.” Jolie takes out her phone to find the evidence. “I had wine,” says Hearst with a grin. “Looks like a lot of weird freeze-frames here,” Jolie says, scrolling through her saved photos. “No, wait—I think it’s this one!” On her screen: a woozy shot of a half-dressed Hearst. The designer blushes, and the two erupt in fits of laughter.

Jolie produces another image on her phone, this one a childhood photo of her with her mother, the actor Marcheline Bertrand, who died in 2007 at the age of 56 after an eight-year battle with ovarian and breast cancer. Jolie the toddler is dressed in a tiny black velvet cape and an adorable hand-​crocheted white smock. “That was my very first cape,” she says, fondly. “My mother was a hippie—she called herself that, she was very proud. She didn’t shop a lot. She loved her velvets and her suedes. She never wore makeup, nor did she really do her hair. She wasn’t a flashy person—she was elegant, natural.”

This sweet mother-daughter portrait was a jumping-off point for the Chloé collaboration, one that sparked a larger conversation between the two women. “Angelina and I are basically the same age,” Hearst says, “and then I learned that her late mom would have been the same age as my mom now.” A black-and-white photograph of Hearst’s mother—a Buddhist, tae kwon do master, and fifth-generation Uruguayan cattlewoman—is propped up on the desk behind her. “So I started researching Angelina’s mom: her beauty, her strength, and her grace.”

FAMILY BUSINESS
From left: Jolie, her daughter Zahara (both in Briony Raymond jewelry), and her son Pax, all wearing Atelier Jolie designs that they helped conceive of, collaborated in, and that incorporate vintage and deadstock materials.

The capsule includes a dramatic floor-length velvet cape, and an adult-size version of Jolie’s baby crochet smock handmade by the craftspeople at La Fabrique Nomade, an organization in Paris that works with refugees. Jolie’s trademark silk slip dress emerges through a broad range of nude shades—the suggestion of Zahara, who has struggled to find the right match for her dark brown skin tone. “Obviously, as a white woman, I’ve never had this experience,” Jolie says, candidly. “It never crossed my mind until we went shopping together and I saw that there’s so much room for improvement.” (A full 84 percent of the collection is made using sustainable and ethical materials.)

There’s plenty of tailoring to be found here too—a nip-waisted black coat cut from organic silk gazar is a standout—though overall, the look is gently rounded, not rigorous, all soft shoulders and curvilinear shapes. “Sometimes the way you dress says, ‘Don’t mess with me—I’ve got my armor on,’ ” says Jolie. “But I want a woman to feel safe enough that she can be soft. After I went through something where I was hurt, I had a therapist ask if I would try wearing a flowing garment. Sounds silly, but I assumed that pants and boots projected a ‘tougher’ look, a stronger me. But was I strong enough to be soft? At the time, no. I felt vulnerable. Now I wonder if I don’t know what my style is because I’m still understanding who I am at 48. I guess I’m in transition as a person.” She pauses to gather her thoughts. “I feel a bit down these days. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don’t want to get into." She adds that she started doing less film work “seven years ago, only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots. We had a lot of healing to do. We’re still finding our footing.” Atelier Jolie is part of this process, it seems. “I think part of this has also been therapeutic for me—to work in a creative space with people you trust and to rediscover yourself,” she says. “I’m hoping to change many aspects of my life. And this is the forward-facing one.”

Around lunchtime, Jolie gets a call from her driver: It seems she is running late for a rendezvous with Pax — they’re on the hunt for New York apartments. (Jolie has just signed on to produce The Outsiders on Broadway.) Jolie turns to hug Hearst goodbye. “I’m not really somebody that has girlfriends, so this has been an interesting jump for me,” she says. Hearst returns the embrace and sends Jolie off with her favorite single-origin fair trade bar from Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate.

The next morning, at a photo studio in Brooklyn with Annie Leibovitz, glimpses of Jolie’s free-spirited and rebellious side come into view. The atelier founder has decided that a pristine white knife-pleated dress she’s had custom made for the shoot is far too plain. What it lacks, she insists, is a personal touch, maybe some graffiti. She grabs a bottle of hot pink spray paint in each hand and gets to work.












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Wednesday, September 21, 2022


A skincare line is definitely a head scratcher.  I've read people complimenting Angelina's complexion but never Brad's. When the writer said
You look like you have great skin anyway. I can’t imagine it takes much!
BP: "No, not really, I don’t, but now… I mean I have my little, simple regimen."
He acknowledges that his complexion isn't great and I have seen past comments to that effect.  The non-tabloid reaction to this new skincare line reflects almost universal skepticism. 






The Le Domaine website says
The terroir is a unique approach to the sourcing of ingredients for Le Domaine. Key elements such as grapes and olive oil in the products have a 100% traceable origin. They are derived exclusively from the Perrin family’s lands and are also eco-extracted by natural means, by Le Domaine’s farmers.
it is not from Miraval.  It is all Perrin.  Even the bottle's distinctive "Oak tree cap is upcycled from the wood left over from the Perrin's (sic) wine barrels."  Brad is essentially just doing Marc Perrin a favor. 

Brad is unquestionably passionate about his art, but in addition to his furniture with Pollaro, he is hawking tea, cashmere, and now skincare "partnerships." He is on his way to establishing a rep as a dilettante.  Add to that his newly unveiled sculpture and overexposure may dent the value of more lucrative product endorsements like he had for Breitling, Brioni and DeLonghi.




It took a couple of hours but this has since been corrected.  It does show that Brad never bothered to read through Le Domaine's website. 

His answers to Vogue are evasive and vague.  He doesn't seem to know much about the products nor what could differentiate Le Domaine from "the familiar story of grape-based antioxidants that has long been mined by more established brands" -- to use a quote from Vogue.  He reverts to talking about Miraval.  The Vogue editor (and probably others in the junket) was charmed but she couldn't ignore the obvious, "Brad Pitt has not read the beauty tutorial memo."  Or any relevant memo.

His quote in Le Domaine's website was hardly more illuminating.

Le Domaine:
“The goal is to imitate the organic cycles of nature, its primeval beauty. There is no waste in nature. Anything left over or discarded becomes food for something else. This exemplary circular system is the inspiration for Le Domaine.”

-- Brad Pitt
He could be talking about compost.

It's obvious that Brad was never truly involved in the development of Le Domaine.  He was about as detached, i.e. clueless, as one can imagine a "co-founder" could be.  He probably was asked to help promote it shortly before it was ready to launch and didn't bother doing his homework for the press junket.  It's another instance of hubris thinking he could just wing it, but in his defense he had other things on his mind like the Tampere exhibit.

The Vogue article says "While he made a conscious decision not to front the brand as the “face” of Le Domaine" that's exactly what he did for the product launch and that, it appears, is the extent of his contribution.  Miraval's contribution to the effort is as a publicity prop.

He says, "we wouldn’t have done it unless we felt there was something valid here, something original, something that worked." But when asked "Have you always had a good skincare routine?"
BP [Very long pause]. "No."

Almost any good product would have resulted in "a real difference visually in my skin." Further, the base research was not robust and was limited to determining "which of the 13 grape varieties the Perrin family grows on their estates in Provence had the most relevant antioxidant properties." There could be other, better varieties not grown by the Perrins that were not considered. Le Domaine is essentially a Perrin house product they could sell alongside their wines in their vineyard store.


Caption this: Brad, meet the product you co-founded.







From Le Domaine



OUR GENESIS
LE DOMAINE STARTED WITH A SERIES OF ENCOUNTERS, ALL CENTERED AROUND A UNIQUE LAND, FARMED AND PROTECTED BY THE PERRIN FAMILY FOR FIVE GENERATIONS.

Le Domaine is a human tale, punctuated with chance meetings. Brad Pitt, owner of Château Miraval, fell in love with the unique beauty of Provence. In 2012, he began exploring the treasures of the vineyard. He worked with the Perrin family to restore Miraval, cultivating the estate’s grapevines and building a strong partnership. Spurred on by the same desire to preserve Earth and its ecosystem, to safeguard the riches of our world for future generations, Le Domaine and its distinctive approach to skin care were a natural step for them both.

THE TERROIR
The terroir is a unique approach to the sourcing of ingredients for Le Domaine. Key elements such as grapes and olive oil in the products have a 100% traceable origin. They are derived exclusively from the Perrin family’s lands and are also eco-extracted by natural means, by Le Domaine’s farmers.

This local approach to nature in cosmetics has a direct effect on the efficacy of the products, due in part to the unique freshness of ingredients that are picked directly from the terroir, but also their very specific properties: GSM10, the active compound with maximized antioxidative powers, is made from a combination of grape varieties carefully selected from the Perrins’ vineyards.

"Le Domaine’s terroir-based model also has an effect on the products’ ecological impact, focusing on local production and sourcing of know-hows. "



The Perrins are discovering that Brad's value as an endorser, especially post-FBI leak, has been greatly diminished.

As of Feb. 23, just 5 months after launch, the products have been discount heavily with the signature products now offered at 34% below launch price.





From the Le Domaine press junket Sept. 13, 2022










No ring on left hand, bee ring on right.  The interview in Miraval took place "last week" according to Baird-Murray's Sept. 21 instagram post. He was seen flying out of Tampere, Finland in the early afternoon of Sept. 18, Sunday for Marseille / Miraval.  He had to have spent a few days setting up his pieces -- maybe Thursday to Saturday in Tampere. So the interview could have been Tuesday, Sept. 13 since he had billboard on Sept. 14. The tree ring was back on his left middle finger in Tampere.


Kathleen Baird Murray is the Contributing Beauty Editor @britishvogue. US Vogue gave the article a different title and at least one interesting edit.


Vogue, "BEAUTY The Curious Case of Brad Pitt, Château Miraval, and a Compelling New Luxury Skin Care Line", September 21, 2022
British Vogue, "BEAUTY “I Love What Gwyneth Has Done With Goop”: Brad Pitt Unveils His Genderless Skincare Line Exclusively To Vogue" 21 September 2022


BY KATHLEEN BAIRD-MURRAY

Brad Pitt during his interview at Château Miraval in Provence. Gabin Rivoire for Enkirama Films

Vogue:
Brad Pitt has not read the beauty tutorial memo. We’re 25 minutes into a world’s first interview with the actor, producer, philanthropist, wine producer, and newly minted skin care brand founder at Château Miraval, the sprawling property and vineyard in the South of France that Pitt bought with Angelina Jolie in 2012, and after a few quick-fire questions we arrive at the inevitable part of any skin care founder interview: “What’s your regimen?” I ask, with a certain amount of trepidation. “Can we have a product demonstration?”

British Vogue:
Brad Pitt has not read the beauty tutorial memo. We’re 25 minutes into an exclusive interview with the actor, producer, philanthropist, wine producer, and newly-minted skincare brand founder at Château Miraval, the sprawling property and vineyard in the South of France that Pitt bought with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie in 2012, and after a few quick-fire questions we arrive at the inevitable part of any skincare founder interview: “What’s your regimen?” I ask, with a certain amount of trepidation. “Can we have a product demonstration?”

Pitt baulks, smiling. “I’m not doing that!”

“Maybe just talk about how your routine has evolved, then? Just don’t make it too QVC,” I suggest to the Academy Award-winner, hoping he might warm to the idea of applying face creams while being filmed.
“I wouldn’t know how to do that, unless it was a comedy,” Pitt says, laughing. “Actually, Sandy [Sandra Bullock] and I did once try to develop a whole idea of a husband and wife team, who were QVC’s most successful salespeople, but we’re getting a divorce, we hate each other, and we’re taking it out on air as we sell things… That’s as far as we got.”

While he made a conscious decision not to front the brand as the “face” of Le Domaine (there will be no campaign portraits, no Brad on TikTok, and very few interviews after this one), Pitt has been as hands-on as it gets with its concept and development, which is based around the familiar story of grape-based antioxidants that has long been mined by more established brands. But Le Domaine has approached the science in its own way, appointing one of the world’s leading wine and human health specialists, University of Bordeaux Professor of Oenology Pierre-Louis Teissedre, to determine which of the 13 grape varieties the Perrin family grows on their estates in Provence had the most relevant antioxidant properties.

That research began over 15 years ago, and may have resulted in the next big thing in skincare: GSM10, an exclusive molecule in Le Domaine’s Serum, Cream, Fluid Cream and Cleansing Emulsion that combines potent properties from the seeds of Grenache grapes with the seeds and skin of Syrah and Mourvedre grapes. It serves as a powerful antidote to oxidative stress, which can break down collagen and contribute to the myriad physical signs of ageing. Professor Nicolas Lévy, a leading scientist in progeria – an extremely rare genetic disorder that speeds up ageing in small children – provided additional insights for the project. Having identified the way progeria affects the natural ageing process, he developed ProGr3 – Le Domaine’s other patented active ingredient – which is derived from grapevine tendril resveratrol, and aims to keep skin cells healthier, longer.

Finally, there’s the magical nature of Miraval’s soil itself – the terroir, as it’s called by oenologists when discussing the growing conditions unique to specific grapevines. In this case: terrace upon terrace of olive trees; miles and miles of otherworldly lichen-encrusted woodland; and air so thick with lavender that at one point I seriously wonder if it’s being artificially pumped in. No pesticides are used at Miraval, where all farming is done biodynamically. The clay and limestone-rich soil is ploughed and the vines aren’t irrigated, which encourages their roots to reach deep down into the ground for moisture. The deeper the roots grow, the better their interaction with the soil, which creates that much sought-after complexity in Miraval’s grapes, as well as in the olive oil that’s produced on the property, the combination of which makes up the base of the 96% natural, vegan and sustainable line.

“Through the ages, Château Miraval has always been this hub of creativity, it has so many places within it where you want to sit and think and expand and explore, and make beautiful things,” he says from one such vantage point in the well-appointed outdoor living area, which overlooks a football pitch he created for his family. That’s not necessarily reason enough to get into what is already a very saturated skincare market, Pitt concedes. But Le Domaine’s efficacy just might be. “I know there are new products nearly every day that people are trying to launch, but if I hadn’t seen a real difference visually in my skin, we wouldn’t have bothered.” Sitting just a few feet away from his clear, sun-kissed complexion, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

How did the Le Domaine project come about?
Brad Pitt: We had been talking about it for so long I don’t remember now how it originally started. I remember reading about the health properties of grape skins as something we wanted to investigate. But the initial idea, right from the beginning, comes back to this place. It’s just steeped in creativity and it’s so fertile. We make olive oil, truffles and honey here. Reinforced concrete began here. Reinforced concrete! That’s insane! In the 1840s Joseph-Louis Lambot invented ferro-cement, a precursor to reinforced concrete, and made a concrete boat that was eventually pulled out of the pond here and now resides in a museum in Brignoles. We had some pillars – test pillars – up in the courtyard. He went on to make the first two buildings in reinforced concrete, and now of course everything is built that way. It’s pretty extraordinary.

And was skincare meant to be a part of this creativity? Had you been secretly thinking all this time, “I must have a skincare brand?”
No, and truthfully we wouldn’t have done it unless we felt there was something valid here, something original, something that worked. I get sent stuff all the time and… ugh. It’s just all the same for me. But this last year we have been testing Le Domaine and I was really surprised by the results, and that for me, made it worth going forward.

Have you always had a good skincare routine?
[Very long pause]. No.

I was so sure you were going to say yes, because one imagines you would be well looked-after…
Well, when I’m looked after, I do [have a good skincare routine]. I just want to keep it simple, you know what I mean? That said, I’m actually thorough now. I’ve been whipped into shape by my dear make-up artist friend – we started together 30 years ago – Jean Black. She is pretty special. So whenever we’re on a film she keeps me healthy, and then she’s like, “try this”, and, “try that”.

You look like you have great skin anyway. I can’t imagine it takes much!
No, not really, I don’t, but now… I mean I have my little, simple regimen.

So, what do you do? Gua sha?
I don’t even know what that is.

Facials?
Rarely. I get antsy.

Did you ever imagine yourself as a beauty baron?
[Laughs]. I’m not sure what a beauty baron is…

It’s like if you were to achieve Estée Lauder-level success.
If Le Domaine is successful, do we get baron status? Yeah, no, I didn’t [imagine that]. Landing here – at Château Miraval – opened up a lot of ideas that I wouldn’t have normally considered. And a big part of it is sustainability, this idea of zero waste is something that is really important to this area and important to me. But listen, when we first got here, I mean, I never thought about having a winery either! I just wanted a beautiful base in this area and it happened to have a winery. And it happened to be hemorrhaging tonnes of money. So we had to go to work. And then we went out on a search and found Marc [Perrin] and his family.

A clever idea. You majored in journalism, I’ve read..
I did, I didn’t graduate, but I did.

Do you wish you had followed that career path?
[Laughs]. I think I’m pretty happy with where things landed! I wouldn’t have objected to that, but I’m feeling alright about my day job.

How do you feel about film star-fronted business enterprises in general?
When I started out it seemed shameful to do a commercial, for some reason. You were called a sell-out. I really think the hip-hop guys changed all of that. They made it okay – even cool – to spread your wings a bit, to try some other things. And now it’s really exciting that you can, you know, explore other corners [of your creativity] like the old Renaissance artists in a way. And I love what Gwyneth’s done [with Goop]. She is still a really dear friend, and she has built this empire. She has always had that in her as a curator, and it’s been a lovely creative outlet for her. In fact, come to think about it, she was probably the first one who got me to even wash my face twice a day… maybe.

What pressures have you felt personally around ageing in the film business?
I don’t want to be running from ageing. It’s a concept we can’t escape, and I would like to see our culture embracing it a bit more, talking about it in those terms. Something we discussed [in founding Le Domaine] was this headline of “anti-ageing”. It’s ridiculous. It’s a fairytale. But what is real is treating your skin in a healthy manner. And it’s something I’ve learnt to do for my business, but it kinda makes you feel better. I grew up with a country mentality, kind of you know, Dial Soap once a day and then move on. And I think that we’re learning that if we love ourselves, if we treat ourselves a little better, then there are long lasting benefits to that. So just age healthy, age in a healthy manner.

Speaking of, I watched Benjamin Button last night. Was it strange to see yourself looking older in that role?
No, no, it wasn’t at all, I was kind of fascinated by it, really. And by the way? All those prosthetics, six hours of prosthetics? Tore up my skin. They destroyed my skin!

How and why is it important to you that Le Domaine’s approach is genderless?
Again, I don’t know if it’s just that I believe in being all-inclusive as much as possible? Or maybe it’s about us guys needing help from others in understanding how we can treat our skin better? I mean, I probably got more from my female partners in the past. We kept the smell very neutral, very fresh, and very, very subtle. I mean, I’m the kind of person who will change hotel rooms if I can smell the cologne of the last person who stayed there! It’s too much! It’s too strong! Keep it subtle. Let people come to you. Don’t force it on others. That’s my feeling (laughs). For smells, I mean. I stand by that for smells!

Do you have any special memories of Miraval?
This past spring was special. We had a good five or six weeks out here. The stories you hear about Provence in the spring, why people come here. Well, it’s real. And I can’t quite describe it, other than the freshness in the air, the light, the… I don’t know, it’s just a real feeling of peace and harmony and the nights are so soothing. In summer you get the symphony of frogs, they lull you to sleep. I have a lot of artist friends from different disciplines, and they were here this spring, we were having a laugh. One was working on his music [at Studio Miraval], one was painting, one was designing a clothing line, and so on and so forth. They’d go off to their respective corners to work on their respective things, and then we’d come back here to cross-pollinate over a meal, or a game of petanques, in the spot we’re sitting in now. Making an artist community has always been the idea here, and it’s really nice to see that happen.

What’s the future looking like for you?
The older I get the more I think about quality of life, and time expenditure, and I sure would like to point it more in this direction. I think after lockdown it seemed to be on a lot of people’s minds, like, how are we spending our time, why are we grinding so much, what are we dedicating our lives to? And I think that family and friends at the end of the day is all that matters.



































Miraval Provence.com ca. 2017-2019














Other photos BradPittPlanB fan account

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