Chanel Appoints Lucia Pieroni as Creative Makeup Director
Chanel has named Lucia Pieroni, a 35-year industry veteran and former Clé de Peau Beauté creative director, as creative makeup director effective Sept. 14, reporting to fragrance and beauty president Simona Cattaneo.
Updated
The takeaway
- Chanel appointed Lucia Pieroni as creative makeup director, a role she began Sept. 14, reporting to Simona Cattaneo, president of fragrance and beauty.
- Pieroni has worked with Matthieu Blazy since his first Chanel collection as artistic director of fashion activities in October 2025, creating the house's runway beauty looks.
- Pieroni previously served as creative director of makeup at Shiseido-owned Clé de Peau Beauté from 2006 to 2019 and replaces the Comètes Collective structure Chanel named in October 2022.
Chanel has named Lucia Pieroni its creative makeup director, effective Sept. 14, ending the house's search for a single creative voice to lead its color cosmetics.
"Being chosen to join Chanel is a great honor," Pieroni said in a statement. "I am thrilled at the opportunity to share my artistic vision with this unrivaled creative team at such a particularly exciting juncture in Chanel's journey. I am excited to work with the teams to bring to fruition a new chapter in makeup for this iconic brand."
Global executive chairman Alain Wertheimer and global chief executive officer Leena Nair jointly praised the appointment. "Lucia Pieroni is one of the most respected, talented and accomplished creative directors, working at the highest level of international makeup creation," they said. "Her expertise and intuition will bring a new perspective, reinforcing the vitality of Chanel makeup."
In the role, Pieroni works alongside Chanel's Makeup Creation Studio and reports to Simona Cattaneo, the house's president of fragrance and beauty. Cattaneo said Pieroni's philosophy of makeup aligned with Chanel's own vision of beauty.
"For Lucia, makeup is never about correcting or transforming a face; it's always about revealing its singularity, its energy, its personality, its features, and this vision is very consistent with the vision of beauty for Chanel," Cattaneo said. She cited Gabrielle Chanel's dictum: "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself."
Cattaneo added that Pieroni believes makeup can be both an intimate gesture of self-revelation and a space for creativity, play and freedom. "This is another big point in my choice," she said.
Pieroni already knows the house. Since October 2025, she has worked alongside Matthieu Blazy, Chanel's artistic director of fashion activities, creating runway beauty for his first collection and beyond. "This is incredibly exciting because she understands our vision of beauty," Cattoneo said.
Cattaneo lauded Pieroni, who has spent 35 years in the industry, for her mastery of light, texture and sophistication. "At the same time, she's more than able to bring to the table flamboyant creativity," Cattaneo said. "In that case, color and material become — through means of expression — almost craft."
Pieroni's artistry ranges from dewy complexions to bold lips, with textural and graphic elements. The British-born, trained painter discovered her métier in London when a makeup artist failed to show at a shoot for her model sister and Pieroni stepped in. She later settled in New York and rose to the top of the editorial world.
Her work has appeared in images by Mert Alas, Marcus Piggott, Craig McDean, David Sims and Mario Sorrenti, and on covers of Vogue, Vanity Fair and i-D. Fashion houses including Prada, Givenchy, Chloé, Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani have tapped her for campaigns. Her celebrity clients include Madonna, Cameron Diaz and Vanessa Paradis.
From 2006 to 2019, Pieroni served as creative director of makeup at Clé de Peau Beauté, part of the Shiseido Group, where she reshaped the brand with her eye for light, shadow and color, channeling it into sophisticated palettes and other products that garnered cult followings.
Pieroni's appointment marks a shift from Chanel's previous structure. In October 2022, the house named a trio of emerging talents as global creative makeup partners, forming the Comètes Collective, which was supported by the Makeup Creation Studio. Before that, individual creatives led the category: Lucia Pica served as global creative makeup and color designer from 2015 for six years; Peter Philips drove makeup development between 2008 and 2013; and Dominique Moncourtois and Heidi Morawetz helmed the division together for nearly three decades.
With Pieroni in place and already collaborating with Blazy, Chanel has unified its makeup leadership under a single seasoned director at the same moment its fashion leadership turns a page.
Source: WWD
Olivia Hart
Show full bio
Senior reporter covering business strategy at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
