Isamaya Ffrench: Make-Up Artist and Illustrator

Taking inspiration from the natural world, Isamaya Ffrench paints the faces of fashion’s finest, creating beauty concepts akin to works of art. Theatrical and imaginative, her projects span vibrant editorials, advertising campaigns, music videos and fashion shows. Collaborating with London menswear label, Agi & Sam, for their AW15 collection, Ffrench created playful Lego masks, a homage to her visions of youth, which protruded outlandishly from models’ faces and gained much attention from the media. More recently, she has designed make-up concepts for Spanish footwear brand Camper, and worked on looks for Rihanna’s latest visual offering.

Ffrench grew up in Cambridge and relocated to London shortly after finishing school. Following a foundation course at Chelsea, she went onto study Product Design at Central Saint Martins. She credits the degree for helping her develop an understanding of working in three dimensions. Gaining experience in creating structural forms, and learning where to place colours and lines, are skills that have been naturally transferable to make-up – interestingly, Ffrench describes herself as an illustrator. She notes, her design background “helps in terms of understanding how to interpret a brand’s vision, because if you’re designing for a company you really have to get into the mind of the brand and somehow put your creative input into it.”

With a childhood interest in faces, Ffrench was inspired by Kevyn Aucoin’s make-up book, ‘Making Faces’, as a child. She began by painting kids’ faces at parties, and quickly realised she had a talent for it. Her break into fashion came through a project for i-D Magazine, with photographer and artist Matthew Stone. He invited Ffrench to do some body painting for a shoot, turning nude male models into clay deities. Since then, the innovative make-up artist has gone onto create countless distinctive concepts, working alongside celebrated designers, photographers, stylists and musicians, including Junya Watanabe, Chanel and Kanye West. Notably, she is now the Beauty Editor for i-D, and was named, last year, as the UK ambassador for YSL Beauté.

Discussing a recent visit to South Africa, where Ffrench observed striking examples of face painting and body adornment, she says: “I’m fascinated by all of that; and it’s so relevant to modern Western culture, where what you do is all about your social and cultural status. For me, make-up can be about creating a character and being in touch with that narrative.” Her super-saturated palettes and whimsical concepts resist fashion’s jaded, minimalistic conventions. Though she initially gained acclaim for her bold use of colour and painterly strokes, Ffrench’s versatile and unconventional aesthetic is continually evolving as it responds to the needs of each project. This week, she was announced as the face of Kenzo x H&M’s new collaboration.