While she's not willing to take complete credit, the return of red lipstick must certainly have something to do with the product’s biggest champion, Lipstick Queen’s Poppy King. King, who left a post with Estée Lauder to launch Lipstick Queen in 2006, is a tireless advocate for the classic cosmetic. The Australian native credits NYC with putting her back on the entrepreneurial path after Poppy Industries, her first cosmetic company, folded, and finds inspiration for the brand in her city surroundings.
Take Chinatown, for example, a new glossy lip pencil: “My offices are in Chinatown,” she explains. “And it’s the kookiness of Chinatown, and going through it every day, that inspired it. Everything is so unexpected—there’s an element of whimsy, but there’s also this hard edge to it.” And the recent launch, Fifteen Minutes of Fame Pop Art Gloss—15 wearable shades including a vivid, sheer red, inspired by (what else?) the lip colors in Andy Warhol’s portraits: “The notion of the Factory and the eccentricity of it wouldn’t have happened in any other city.” And while quintessential New York retailer Barneys was an early supporter, Lipstick Queen, a favorite of glamorous starlets like Kate Bosworth, is also popular with smaller local boutiques like Castor & Pollux, Lyell, and Elizabeth Charles.
“If you’re gonna have dreams, this is the place to have them,” King says. “Every day you look at the skyline and realize that it’s the crazy people in this city that either end up babbling to themselves at the buildings or end up on top of the world.” Lipstickqueen.com
NEW YORK FAVORITES
Neighborhood: Nolita. “I love the fact that it does have a real neighborhood vibe. The two anchors of Nolita are Milano’s Bar and Cafe Gitane. They’ve both got authenticity.”
