The business of beauty

Tiger moms all over the world demand that their kids grow up to be doctors, lawyers, concert pianists, business executives or financiers. Nowhere on the list is "makeup artist," but with fashion on its way to becoming as big a business in China as in every industrial nation, little boys are now allowed to dream of becoming makeup artists.

For pioneers like Galvin Lin and Ivan Chiu, though, getting started meant taking a side trip through business and the arts.

Lin started his career as a painter before directing his brushes toward the human canvas, while Chiu started as a photographer 17 years ago. Their switch to the beauty realm coincided with a reboot of the Chinese fashion industry, which, up until the 1990s — according to Antonia Finnane, author of "Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, and Nation" — existed only as a workshop for the world, with little direction toward becoming a design leader.

The Cultural Revolution that ended in 1966 succeeded in quashing individual expression, starting with Mao suits reflecting rigid political conformity. But now, with China’s rapid rise as an economic superpower, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world will see how its artists merge an ancient culture and well-defined aesthetic for the modern world.

The two Dior Pro-Team artists, who draw inspiration from Chinese opera, calligraphy and street art, were in town last week to conduct makeup demonstrations for DFS Galleria Waikiki staffers and patrons, and introduce the latest spring products from Dior, including limited-edition nail enamels and a purple-and-gray camouflage-patterned eye shadow created by German artist Anselm Reyle.

Only 80 of the hand-pressed eye shadow palettes are being sold at DFS Waikiki, at $110 each. New York and Miami are the only other cities where they will be available. There are even fewer bottles of the various Dior Vernis nail colors available, at $23 each.

Lin, who is based in Shanghai, China’s fashion capital, considered himself a painter since childhood but took an accepted path to a management career by studying business in college. "In China, before you can become a manager, you have to start in sales because that’s the way you learn the business," he said through an interpreter.

His sales job happened to be on the cosmetics floor, where, after watching makeup artists at work and taking some classes, he was able to transfer his painter’s technique to the human canvas.

"A lot of my friends said I was more like a makeup artist than salesperson. I started to realize I enjoyed doing makeup, and it made me a better salesperson," he said.

Chiu, who is from Taiwan, said his work as a photographer brought him into contact with models and makeup artists. He said he took to doing makeup for his own photo shoots as a matter of self-sufficiency. That led to an instant path to Dior when he hosted an industry party in 2002 to showcase his work. "There was a lot of color. It was very dramatic," he said through an interpreter.

A Dior scout was in the audience and invited him to work for the company.

Lin said, "Ivan was very lucky. I had to go step by step, so it took a little longer." That meant starting with Yves Saint Laurent before moving on to M.A.C, then returning to YSL before applying to Dior, where both now bring their expertise to international runway shows and travel the globe promoting the brand and working with celebrities and fashion editorials.

IN COMPARING the beauty experience, they said trends are more regional than global in nature and that Europeans are the bravest when it comes to playing with color.

"In Asia they still want a more natural look," said Chiu, "but Asian women are more into skin care. When I work in Paris and Milan, the models don’t do any skin care."

That said, he added that runway models in the United States and Europe tend to be 14 to 16 years old so they don’t need a lot of skin care, while models in Asia are likely to be anywhere from 20 into their 30s because Asian women tend to look younger longer.

Chiu said it’s also a matter of parental guidance and the importance of education in Asian cultures before indulging in any kind of pop fantasy. "In Taiwan, parents want you to do a good job in school, go to college, get a good job. It’s step by step. There’s an age when you’re supposed to be doing certain kinds of things," Chiu said.

Lin said he’s already teaching his daughter how to paint, anticipating a day when she might want to follow in his footsteps as a makeup artist.

Meanwhile, he’s waiting for the day when a Chinese fashion designer emerges to be on par with the likes of such venerable names as Chanel and Dior. To date, the biggest rising stars with Chinese surnames are associated with the United States: California-raised Alexander Wang and Jason Wu, who was born in Taiwan but resides and shows in New York.

Lin, a regular presence at Shanghai Fashion Week, said that when he was starting in the beauty industry, China followed beauty cues and brands from Japan. "Now it’s all about European or American style," he said, and it will take longer for Chinese style to be accepted.

"When you talk about a company like Dior, you’re talking about brand history, longevity and hundreds of people behind the brand to make everything happen. It took a long time for Dior to arrive at this place."

For China to have its own Dior, he said, there will have to be wide acceptance among both Chinese and Western cultures over who is worthy of the crown.

"Right now we’re just taking baby steps. Not now, but in the future, we will have something like Dior."