NEW DELHI: Fashion designer Masaba Gupta and beauty brand Nykaa Cosmetics are together launching their first collaborative “designer led” beauty collection. The duo has married Gupta’s print sensibility of eclectic, vibrant and quirky prints with the cosmetic company’s expertise.
The collection will be launched at The Chanakya on August 2 where Gupta will unwrap the collection that, according to the company, is all about her love for colour and iconic motifs.
The collection features 12 of Gupta’s favourite shades of lips and matching tips, packaged in an eclectic mix of prints like Pataka, Trolls, the signature Cow&Bindi, Tiger Lily et al. Gupta and Nykaa have been working for over two years to co-create this collection that has products and colors suiting every Indian skin tone. Gupta has taken inspiration from family and her best friends to create the shades as well as co-designing the packaging elements that truly represent her signature style and personality. This collection consists of 25 products – 12 lipsticks, 12 nail paints and 1 nail enamel remover.
Nykaa is touting the formula of the shades which ranges from reds, pinks to nudes is highly pigmented, lightweight and keeps lips hydrated. The nail paint colours match the lipsticks to keep your monochrome look on point. It comes with a UV filter and a 5-free formula to keep protect nails from sun damage and harmful chemicals. The formula in the remover, meanwhile, is acetone-free, thus preventing excessive drying.
Reena Chhabra, CEO, Nykaa Brands says, “Gupta’s design sensibility has always been a step ahead of the curve. She has an ability to delve into a millennial consciousness, as well as create a completely new design story with vibrant colours and themes that connect with everyone. Her work is trend-forward, and yet she also embodies a contemporary young woman,” Gupta, on the other hand, feels that beauty is not a confined idea. “It cannot be tamed or fit into a box; there is no right or wrong kind of beauty. Merging all my favourite colours and prints into a timeless collection that’s tailor-made to personify every woman/girl individually,” she says.
However, even before it has hit stores, the new collection has stoked controversy for ‘copying’ the packaging. The self-styled big daddy against plagiarism in the fashion industry, Diet Sabya, called out Nykaa and Gupta both in his post a few weeks ago for “Sephora inspired” packaging.
While the Instagram account steered clear from using the sarcastic, acerbic tone of his/her to further castigate the designer and the brand, the comments that followed were not too kind either. Top fashion designer Rohit Bal was clean as a blade in his comment – “hmmm...sad. Just so sad”. A lot of them blamed Nykaa for copying their campaigns and product packagings from other popular brands. One user said Nykaa is a copycat of other designer brands and now they charge similar prices too. Few others advised Gupta to have done her research before hopping onto the Nykaa bandwagon. There was no response on the post either from Gupta or Nykaa.
Sephora inspired?
Even before it has hit stores, the Masaba by Nykaa collection has stoked controversy for ‘copying’ the packaging. The self-styled big daddy against plagiarism in the fashion industry, Diet Sabya, called out Nykaa and Gupta in his post a few weeks ago for “Sephora inspired” packaging.