Isamaya Ffrench (born 9 April 1989) is a British

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

and creator of

wearable art Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to art pieces in the shape of clothing or jewellery pieces. These pieces are usually handmade, and are produced only once or as a very limited series. Pieces of clothing are often made w ...

. She has worked on

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

editorials for several major publications, including ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

'', '' W'' magazine and ''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

''. Her subjects have included musicians

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

, and models Kendall and

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

. Her principal focus is on facial art and decoration that challenges

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

norms. Born and raised in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England, she became interested in

physical art Physical art, as contrasted with conceptual art, refers to art that entirely exists in physical reality, in space and time. Its ontology, ontological status is that it is a physical object. The art is concretely realized but may be abstract art, ...

s from a young age and moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to study 3D design at the

Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educati ...

, then

product Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...

and

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

University of the Arts London University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Coll ...

.Isamaya Ffrench
Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2019-10-28. She also joined the

Theo Adams Theo Adams (born 29 September 1989 in London, England), is a performance artist and director of the contemporary theatrical performance group Theo Adams Company. Biography Education Adams studied at Fine Arts College, Hampstead. He left the f ...

Company in 2010. She was inspired by

Kevyn Aucoin Kevyn James Aucoin (; February 14, 1962 – May 7, 2002) was an American make-up artist, photographer and author. In the 1990s, Aucoin was wholly responsible for the "sculpted" look of many celebrities and top models, including Whitney Houston, ...

's ''The Art of Makeup, Making Faces'', which she saw at age seven,Hannah, Lesa (2018-08-29)
How Isamaya Ffrench Went From Painting Kids’ Faces to Being One of the Most in Demand Makeup Artists
''Fashion Magazine''. Retrieved 2019-10-28. but did not focus on make-up in her youth, being more interested in other physical art,

springboard diving A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

,Isamaya Ffrench, Beauty Editor, i-D
Into the Gloss (July 2014). Retrieved 2019-10-28. and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

.Dunn, Francesca (2014-05-19)
meet our new beauty editor isamaya ffrench!
''I-D''. Retrieved 2019-10-28. While studying in London she decided to learn

face painting Body painting is a form of body art where artwork is painted directly onto the human skin. Unlike tattoos and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, lasting several hours or sometimes up to a few weeks (in the case of mehndi or "h ...

to earn money part-time. She started face painting at children's parties and her skill at the craft resulted in her doing the job for children from London

high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

. She moved into painting adults faces soon after, and worked on the 2011 spring/summer menswear show for fellow Central Saint Martins alumnus

Christopher Shannon Christopher Shannon is an English fashion designer specialising in menswear. Early life and education A Liverpudlian, Shannon graduated from Central Saint Martins with an MA in Menswear, studying under Louise Wilson. Career After working wit ...

.Kissick, Dean (2014-04-28)
paintjob by isamaya ffrench, i-D's new beauty editor
''I-D''. Retrieved 2019-10-28. After doing an all-body tiger

body painting Body painting is a form of body art where artwork is painted directly onto the human skin. Unlike tattoos and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, lasting several hours or sometimes up to a few weeks (in the case of mehndi or "h ...

for a friend, a fellow dancer in her company suggested her to '' i-D'' magazine, which resulted in Ffrench's first

fashion photography Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio o ...

shoot in mid-2011 doing body painting and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

sculpture for

Matthew Stone Matthew Stone (born 1982 in London, England) is a London-based artist. He is part of the South London art collective !Wowow!. Stone graduated from Camberwell College of Arts, London in 2004. He currently stages performances and films. In 2007 ...

and

Alek Wek Alek Wek (born 16 April 1977) is a South Sudanese South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a population of around million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Wester ...

. She worked alongside a professional make-up artist during the shoot, which led her to purchase her own kit and move towards face decoration. Having come from a physical arts background, she was less interested in beauty conventions and more interested in face decoration as a form of identity construction and working with the structure of the

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

.Isamaya Ffrench: ‘In the future beauty will be about displaying your DNA’
''The Guardian'' (2019-10-27). Retrieved 2019-10-28. She broadened into

window dressing A display window, also a shop window (British English) or store window (American English), is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the f ...

with a display for

Liberty's Liberty, commonly known as Liberty's, is a luxury department store in London, England. It is located on Great Marlborough Street in the West End of London. The building spans from Carnaby Street on the East to Kingly Street on the West, where ...

for

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

in 2013. She continued to work for ''I-D'' and became the magazine's beauty editor in April 2014. She also uses nature themes for her facial art, such as landscapes and forests. Ffrench left ''I-D'' in 2015 and became ambassador for YSL Beauté, Yves Saint Laurent's

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

range that same year. She was appointed Creative Artist Consultant for

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and directe ...

Beauty in October 2016, where she created the ''Extrême'' line including metallic coloured lip lacquers and

eye shadow Eye shadow (or eyeshadow) is a Cosmetics, cosmetic applied primarily to the eyelids to attract attention to the wearer's eyes, making them stand out or look more attractive. Eye shadow can also be applied under the eyes, on the cheeks, or to br ...

. In 2018 Ffrench became creative director for the newly launched Dazed Beauty section of ''

'' magazine. In 2020 she was named Creative director of Byredo Makeup where she created and developed the line for the brand. In 2021 she was made Global beauty director of Burberry. In 2019 she expressed an interest in the intersection of beauty and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

, particularly the impact of

racial diversity A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

and

gender diversity Gender diversity is equitable or fair representation of people of different genders. It most commonly refers to an equitable ratio of men and women, but may also include people of non-binary genders. Gender diversity on corporate boards has bee ...

upon beauty norms, and

physical health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

as a

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soci ...

. In 2020, she was a featured vocalist on two songs, "Control" by

God Colony God Colony are a London-based industrial hip-hop music-producing duo. Their music has featured fellow Soundcloud stars Flohio, BbyMutha, Stash Marina and Kojey Radical. Early career God Colony produced music together in Merseyside, England ...

and the "

Feel Feel may refer to: *Feeling Music Bands *Feel (New York band), a dance and R&B band *Feel (Polish band), a pop rock band Songs * "Feel" (Kendrick Lamar song), 2017 * "Feel", by Phora, 2018 *"Feel", by Mahmut Orhan, 2016 * "Feel" (Kumi Koda song), ...

" cover by

Sega Bodega Salvador Navarrete (born 16 February 1992), better known by his stage name Sega Bodega, is an Irish-Scottish music producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and co-head/founder of record label and collective Nuxxe. Sega Bodega is known for his futuristic ...

from his new album titled Reestablishing Connection. She formed the experimental music project Alto Arc in 2021, alongside George Clarke of

Deafheaven Deafheaven is an American post-metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following i ...

Danny L Harle Daniel Jack Eisner Harle is a British music producer and composer who records under the alias Danny L Harle. He was formerly signed to the London-based PC Music label and is a member of Dux Content with A. G. Cook. He has produced, composed, a ...

, and Trayer Tryon. They released their debut EP in February 2022. She additionally collaborated with Sega Bodega again on his 2021 ''

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

'' album. In June 2022, Isamaya launched her own line of makeup products, Isamaya Beauty. The first collection featured kink-inspired imagery.

References

External links

The BoF Podcast: Makeup Artist Isamaya Ffrench on How to Define Beauty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ffrench, Isamaya Living people 1989 births 21st-century British women artists Artists from Cambridge English women artists British make-up artists Wearable art Alumni of Central Saint Martins