The Cometes Collective Continues Gabrielle Chanel’s Legacy Of Creating Iconic Colours
Chanel Beauty heroines Ammy Drammeh, Valentina Li, and Cecile Paravina continue Gabrielle Chanel’s legacy of creating colors that enhance elegance and allure.
Gabrielle Chanel introduced the first makeup product to the house of Chanel just over 100 years ago in 1924: red lipstick in a bespoke shade that was ultra pigmented yet still wearable for day – packaged in a luxurious bullet with a clever sliding mechanism for ease of use.
This happened around the time women from the Suffragettes movement were adopting red lips as a symbol of strength and freedom (prior to this, many – okay, men mostly – associated the look with immodesty). “If you are sad, put on some lipstick and attack,” Coco Chanel quipped famously. And with that, this French fashion pioneer added the role of beauty pioneer to her hat, championing how colour can embolden one’s natural beauty, personality and style. (PS One can still see echoes of that first lippie in all of Chanel’s best‑selling lipsticks today.)
Introduced in 2022, the Cometes Collective works together with the Chanel Makeup Creation Studio to come up with new collections or colour palettes for existing lines. All three in the group at present are rising stars of the beauty industry known for their deft hand and wildly imaginative, experimental use of colour: (from left) French makeup whiz Cecile Paravina; the China‑born, Paris‑based Valentina Li, who describes herself as a “face painter”; and the Londoner Ammy Drammeh, who made the British Fashion Council’s annual New Wave: Creatives list not once, but twice.
These days, the maison remains just as progressive an authority when it comes to cosmetics. In 2022, it announced the formation of the Cometes Collective. No, it’s not a new pop group, but a band of new‑gen makeup whizzes – all of them incidentally women – who have been roped in to work with the Chanel Makeup Creation Studio to come up with new products.
There’s the vivacious Guangxi‑born, Paris‑based Valentina Li, 33, who’s as known for her signature cobalt blue bob as she is for creating utterly far out yet sublime, sci‑fi‑influenced looks that have made her one of Gen Z’s original beauty idols. Before becoming part of the Cometes Collective, her repertoire included the likes of encrusting faces and hands with floral sculptures (what she calls “ice flowers”) and crystals, and deftly enlarging the look of eyes to extreme anime proportions with fluoro face paint and rhinestones.
The Guangxi‑born, Paris‑based Li’s colour‑rich and often extreme sci‑fi‑influenced looks have made her one of Gen Z’s original beauty idols.
Her debut collection for Chanel – for Spring 2024 and the first to be launched following the reveal of the Cometes Collective – channelled the same sort of fantasy and audaciousness into a capsule inspired by her love of the ocean and the colour blue. Besides an electric azure eyeliner and nail polish, there were the likes of a pearlescent Lumiere de L’Ocean illuminating powder with cyan shimmer, a complementary range of coral‑based palettes and lippies, and a version of the multi‑purpose Baume Essentiel glow stick with specks of gold and pink dust dubbed the Mermaid Glow – all unexpected, hyper‑glamorous and pretty at once.
Valentina Li’s workstation offers a glimpse into how she blends futuristic elements with dreamy colour palettes, perfectly capturing the essence of Chanel Beauty.
Meanwhile, the youngest of the Cometes Collective is Cecile Paravina, 30, who hails from a small mining town in the northeast of France and studied fashion design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (read: the alma mater of Martin Margiela and the Antwerp Six) before deciding that makeup was more her thing. Trained by the enigmatic Serge Lutens, she’s a bohemian intellectual with a deep interest in art and vintage books, and her approach to creating and wearing makeup has been equally avant‑garde and romantic.
For example, she was behind the Ombre Essentielle collection that was released last May, comprising 14 single eyeshadows in lush and exotic colours such as Jade Facette, a pastel green reminiscent of the tweed designs Coco Chanel favoured for summer, and Ble d’Or Antique, a golden hue inspired by wheat – Coco Chanel’s good luck charm. Each was formulated to be extra creamy so that one can adjust its intensity easily, wearing it alone or layered.
Originally trained in fashion design, Paravina honed her makeup skills under Serge Lutens, and is heavily influenced by art and her personal (and ever‑growing) vintage book collection. Her approach to makeup is equally avant‑garde and romantic.
Rounding up the Cometes Collective is the elegant Ammy Drammeh, a Londoner born and raised in Barcelona, and of Spanish‑Gambian heritage who’s something of an industry legend for her ability to bring out the natural beauty of skin while incorporating the most playful touches of colour. “Effortless with a twist” is how she describes her makeup style – her greatest influences are the R&B goddesses she listened to growing up in the early 2000s (cue Aaliyah and En Vogue).
An avid listener of R&B music growing up in the early 2000s, Drammeh – who is of Spanish‑Gambian heritage – has built a reputation for creating looks that are glamorous yet natural, with playful touches of colour.
This same chic‑meets‑creative aesthetic can be seen in Chanel’s Spring Summer 2025 makeup collection that hits stores on Jan 3. The star product is the Jeux de Lumieres palette with four shades of illuminating powders that will bring a fresh and fashionable glow to every skin tone: pink gold, and a shimmery pink coral, silvery pink and coppery gold. Inspired by colour blocking, there are also matching shades of eyeshadows and eyeliners (or what the brand calls “twin sets”) in sparkly mint green and lilac, a warm matte beige and a copper‑toned pink. Six youthful new shades of Rouge Coco Baume – reformulated to be shinier – help to complete Drammeh’s ultra‑fun take on everyday sophistication.
In stores on Jan 3, Chanel’s Spring Summer 2025 makeup collection designed by Drammeh offers playful pops of colour that will complement all skin tones and add a fresh jolt of youthfulness. Products include four matching shades of eyeshadows and eyeliners (or what the brand calls “twin sets”) in sparkly mint green and lilac, a warm matte beige and a copper‑toned pink, as well as six new shades of Rouge Coco Baume, including Raspberry Kiss, an intense bluish‑pink.
In all, the women in the Cometes Collective have worked with the Chanel Makeup Creation Studio on seven collections to date, all released in under a year and each a blast to play with whether one’s a makeup addict or novice. Unlike with many other beauty brands that boast a single creative director – something Chanel, too, had previously – they’re referred to as “global creative makeup partners”, and bring a refreshingly down‑to‑earth and collaborative energy to the house and industry.
Each one is invited to give her take on every launch and even quoted in the press release. (Paravina, for instance, said Li’s Spring 2024 collection inspired her to “create fresh, feminine looks”.) Interviewing them in person at the brand’s Colour Of Allure event in London two months ago – held to showcase Chanel’s heritage and know‑how in makeup – one gets the sense that the camaraderie is real. They tend to refer to one another in their answers and smile knowingly as the others respond, and – not unlike a girl group – chortle and speak in unison on matters they feel strongly about (no, none of them care for forecasting colour trends!).
Last November, Chanel hosted Colour Of Allure in London, an event that consisted of a retrospective exhibition, an interview with the Cometes Collective and a trippy digital show that showcased how colour can embolden one’s natural beauty – and how the maison is an expert at creating it.
More than a century ago, Gabrielle Chanel reinvented lipstick and redefined the way it was worn and seen. The Cometes Collective reflects the same forward‑thinking perspective: that makeup – and its creators – should push boundaries and spark change, all while staying relevant to the times and wearer. Here, some excerpts from our interview with Li, Drammeh and Paravina on the allure of colour.
WHAT’S A CORE MEMORY ABOUT MAKEUP OR COLOUR THAT BLEW YOUR MIND?
Drammeh’s Summer 2024 line that translated the hues of vibrant flowers into shimmery palettes, eye pens and nail polishes.
Ammy Drammeh (AD): “When I was studying makeup when I was 18, one of my teachers said, if you’re having a bad day or working with someone whose skin is challenging to work with, use a bright lip colour and all the attention will be focused on it, and all the other problems will disappear. I found that so interesting.”
Valentina Li (VL): “It was only recently that I started thinking about my relationship with makeup. I had started using it only when I was around 16, which is considered super late, and then this memory hit me: that of my aunt doing my makeup for me when I was a child and performing in a dance group … She was really good with it and I was always the girl with the most beautiful makeup in the group. This memory is so special to me. Thank you, Aunt!”
Cecile Paravina (CP): “I have an original, antique copy of Haishoku Soukan, (painter and costume designer) Sanzo Wada’s six‑volume work on colour studies that’s made up of coloured cards meant to help artists find colour combinations. It’s part of my vintage book collection, and is the oldest and most precious thing I own. I love this object so much and pull it out every time I need to design new collections.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF GEN Z’S APPROACH TO MAKEUP AND HOW DOES THIS INFLUENCE THE WAY YOU WORK?
The Fall Winter 2024 Clairvoyance collection by Paravina that was inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s interest in the divinatory arts, and featured colours such as purple and matcha green for the eyes
CP: “Ammy and I aren’t really Instagram girls who keep up to date with social media. However, what always brightens my day is when I see younger people experimenting with makeup and not being afraid to make mistakes with colour. I see them on the streets and I know their relationship with makeup starts with an image that they want to recreate in real life, which is very different from how previous generations have mainly used makeup: to look good.”
VL: “I was born in 1991, so I think of myself as part of the Y2K generation. I like Gen Zers’ approach to makeup as they have no fear. They’re not afraid of any beauty transformations – look at their different hair colours and contact lenses – and the way they react to colour is very positive. My generation never had the same social media platforms growing up, so we not only didn’t have as many references, but we also didn’t have the same platforms to express ourselves. Now, I’m encouraged to make more colours that would appeal to Gen Z.”
HOW DOES EACH COMETES COLLECTIVE COLLECTION START?
VL: “When I was working on Spring 2024, I came across this image of Coco Chanel wearing a Breton top. Her first boutique was located in Deauville, which is by the sea, and it dawned on me that – like me – she loved the ocean and I jumped on that connection. That most associate going to the ocean with the summer season made me want to play on the theme even more for Spring and refresh what people associate with it. As for the Holiday 2024 collection, I thought about how one can find colour in winter or snow, and that led me to think of one of the most beautiful phenomenons in the world: the Northern Lights. It has so many colours – not just green, which many people immediately think of, but also deep red, pink and orange, for example – and I thought this inspiration would surprise audiences.”
The Spring 2024 makeup collection, by Li, and that revolved around her love of the ocean and the colour blue
CP: “Sometimes, it’s about digging in the archives and finding something that relates to the history of the house. For Fall 2024, for example, I studied Coco Chanel’s hobbies and discovered her interest in tarot cards and the divinatory arts, and that for me immediately evoked colours such as purple and green – hues that are mysterious and sultry. Meanwhile, for Ombre Essentielle, it was more about emulating the way Coco Chanel designed. For instance, she loved beige because it’s a colour drawn from men’s underwear – very natural and not originally seen as chic or meant to be seen at all. I found this way of designing very sincere and tried to follow the same approach: I love jade, for example, and tried to create an eyeshadow that allows one to wear what’s akin to a piece of jade on your face.”
Paravina’s Ombre Essentielle range of single eyeshadows that featured exotic shades such as Lilas Poudre– a matte lilac mauve – and the golden grey‑green Jade Facette.
AD: “I was excited to work on the Summer 2024 collection because it’s a season in which one can be very playful with colour. We’ve not had a very colourful collection for a long time – the last was L’ete Papillon by Peter Philips in 2013, when he was the creative director of makeup for the house. So I thought of bringing back such excitement as well as the element of portability: What do you do, where do you go, how do you move and what do you carry with you in the summer? So I didn’t start off with a theme, but a feeling: I wanted to create something exciting, but also easy to use. Ultimately, it also has a connection with Gabrielle Chanel’s personality: She was a free spirit.”
WHAT’S ONE WORD YOU ASSOCIATE WITH COLOUR?
CP: “Spirit”
VL: “Attraction”
AD: “Magnetism”
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED FOR BREVITY AND CLARITY
This article first appeared in the January/February 2025 Art Edition of FEMALE