Serge Lutens

Serge Lutens (born 14 March 1942, in Lille, France) is a French photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfume art-director and fashion designer. In 1956, at the age of 14, he was given a job against his will - he would have preferred being an actor - in a beauty salon in his native city.

Two years later, he had already established the feminine hallmarks that he would make his own: eye shadow, ethereally beautiful skin, short hair plastered down. He also became known for the colour black, from which he never deviated. He confirmed his tastes and his choices with the female friends of his whom he photographed. Helped by a friend, Madeleine Levy, and bearing large prints of his photographs of his friends, Serge Lutens, experiencing his first years in Paris at a time of insecurity and want, contacted Vogue magazine. For him, this magazine represented the essence of beauty: a sort of convent that he mythologised. Three days later, he collaborated on the Christmas issue.

The creator of a vision through makeup, jewellery and extraordinary objets, Serge Lutens quickly became the person to call, and the fashion magazines were not mistaken: Elle, Jardin des Modes, Harper’s Bazaar were constantly after him: he worked with the greatest photographers of the time, all the while pursuing his own photographic work. During these years, his talent was fully acknowledged. In 2000, Lutens launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens. For four consecutive years, 2001 to 2004, Lutens was awarded the "Fifi Award" for best Original Concept. In 2004 he was selected to participate in "Lille 2004 – European Capital City", where he erected his "Olfactory Maze" an installation of concrete and light where he recreated scents from the city of his childhood such as rain, earth and leaves.