15 March 2026 |
Peter Philips is one of the most important people in beauty. As creative and image director for Dior Makeup, the fruits of his enterprise are bought and worn all over the world and come stamped with a brand name that has been synonymous with luxury, creativity and excellence – and has carried a wealth of expectation – for almost 80 years. It’s a big job. It must be a lot of pressure.
Yet, I tell Philips, in all the times I’ve met him over the years (and that’s going back two decades to Chanel) he always seems calm, has time for a friendly word for people and is always open to talk and exchange opinions. Even on our video chat, as the Belgian beams in from his Paris studio – his bookshelves lined with reference tomes, product samples and even a rather splendid looking statuette of an owl (which turns out to be made from repurposed Dior offcuts and was a Christmas present from Dior Couture CEO Delphine Arnault) – he couldn’t have been nicer about the fact that my laptop camera is playing up and won’t turn on, so he ends up being interviewed by a voice emanating from a dark screen with my name on it. Still, he slightly bats away the compliment. “You know, I have my moments,” he smiles in his very open-faced way. “But the thing is, I’ve got a really great team, or we’ve got a great team, and I know that all of the pressure is not on my shoulders. It’s teamwork. I just have to be on top, or try to stay on top, of things, and my team has to stay on top of things. And then it seems to go well.”
Ruyu wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 2N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 0.5N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 001 Pink and Dior Backstage Glow Maximizer Palette in 001 Universal Glow; on eyes Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 162 Summer Azur; on lips Rouge Dior 808 Red Dream Velvet; on nails Dior Vernis in 582 Azur. All by DIOR MAKEUP
It’s all very of the people, by the people, for the people. And it’s typical Philips understatement. I asked him about this shoot, his inspiration for it, what his references included and how his overall vision had been mapped out. Perhaps a bit of the painter Antoine Watteau, I wondered. Or did I detect some channelling of The Wicked Lady, the 1945 Gainsborough Pictures movie starring Margaret Lockwood as a highwaywoman? But no. Because this shoot was very far from being all about him. “It’s always a team effort,” he says. Though he will admit to being happy with the results. “It was a great team. And it’s been a long time since I shot with Pierre [Debusschere]. We had fun.”
As for how these looks came about, he explains that, for him, the mood board is more of a practical thing. He starts with the layout and how many shots will be needed. Then there’s what the magazine or the editor (or a campaign) wants to bring out. “But quite often it’s just on the day itself that you get guided by the models and the styling. We also had Pierre. I remember the days that I used to shoot with him, and his photography was different. It’s more sensitive now, more poetic. In the studio when I saw the first shots, I was like, oh, this is a different Pierre, he’s evolved. So, I moved with that also. We have to, not fight against things, but go with things to make it look good.” There was Sebastien Bascle on hair, creating dos with “no waves, a bit boyish, a bit graphic”. And then “of course, the models because they are the leading ladies in our story. They guide me because of the way they are, the sophistication, the shapes of their faces, the way they capture light, the way they pose. Et voila.” What’s key on a shoot like this is that everyone’s working together.
Viktoria wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 0N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 00N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 012 Rosewood; on eyes Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 855 Rose Moiré; on lips Rouge Dior in 429 Rose Blues Velvet. All by DIOR MAKEUP
Of course, there may be no ‘I’ in team, but there is in Dior. “I mean, I work for Dior. They would be very happy if I use certain products that will be new [when this shoot comes out], projects that will just be launched to make sure that we put them in the spotlight. Like, okay, it will be much appreciated if you use this palette or this new mascara, or little polish, or whatever. So that is the guideline. And then I work around and with those elements.” Philips is a pure creative soul, and his integrity is fully intact. “If a product gets launched and I don’t believe in it, I don’t even talk about it. And they know that here. I don’t want to ruin my reputation as a make-up artist and creative director. Whenever I talk about products or collections you can guarantee I believe in them, use them and play with them.” For this shoot, in case you’re wondering, that includes Diorshow Overvolume mascara, available in four colours, a new Diorshow Overvolume waterproof option, an updated formula for Dior Forever Skin Glow and Skin Wear foundation, the latest Diorshow 5 Couleurs eyeshadow palettes with a central iridescent option, which uses a new pigment that the maison discovered, and Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil.
Viktoria wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 0N; Dior Forever Skin Correct in 00N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow and Stick in 063 Pink Lilac and Dior Backstage Glow Maximizer Palette in 001 Universal Glow; on eyes Diorshow Overvolume mascara in 161 Overblue and Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 964 Lilac Tulle; on lips Dior Addict Lip Maximizer in 053 Golden Hour. All by DIOR MAKEUP
Mere products alone, no matter how good, can’t make a shoot look like this, though. It does take the hand of a master, no matter how modest that master may be, to make colour look so modern. Even an emphatic blush that Philips manages to make look natural and beautiful, somehow both strong and bold and also as light as air. For that particular effect he says he likes to play with the Backstage Glow Stick blushes “and I blend them into the foundation, so they become like part of the skin texture. In a way, the girls look very nude. It’s not a nude make-up but there’s a nudeness, a pureness, to them, even though they’re wearing blood-red lipstick and eyeshadow.” As for the rest of the face, what brings all those hues up to date is a lack of any kind of harsh lines to the look. With the mascara he avoided black, so it doesn’t become too severe, and went for blue or pink. “There’s no eyeliner and, with the lips, though they’re drawn and some of them are blended, there’s no liner. There’s no sculpting or highlighting with the blush or the highlighters, it’s all bleeding into each other, all soft shadows. Even the blue eyeshadow is not like a colour block, it fuses into the shadows and blends into the side of the face, almost like a soft, cloudy, blue eyeshadow that blends into those non-existent eyebrows.” The collective effect “creates something painterly”, he says, “almost like a medieval portrait”.
from left: Viktoria wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 0N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 00N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 012 Rosewood; on eyes Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 855 Rose Moiré; on lips Rouge Dior in 429 Rose Blues Velvet; Dior Vernis in 582 Azur on nails; Ruyu wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 2N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 0.5N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 012 Rosewood and Dior Forever Glow Luminizer in 04 Pink Strobe; on eyes Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 170 and Viktoria wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 0N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 00N; on cheeks Dior Forever Glow Luminizer in 03 Pink Halo; on eyes Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 162 Summer Azur; on lips Dior Addict Lip Tint in 531 Natural Sienna. All by DIOR MAKEUP
In the storybook of his own career, Philips has now been at Dior for 12 years, which he joined after a 10-year stint at Chanel. He points out that he didn’t leave there to join Raf Simons, his fellow Belgian and long-term friend since they studied fashion at the same time at Royal Academy Antwerp, after he took up Dior’s womenswear reins. Philips had already left Chanel, but the rumour was out that he was available again and Dior came knocking. That Simons was there “was a great bonus. I loved it a lot and it made the collaboration easier. But when Raf left I stayed because I loved my teams. I loved the challenge and the experience of doing another French house but in a totally different mechanism to the Chanel world.” He calls working with Maria Grazia Chiuri “amazing” and says she had “a point of view about women and women’s empowerment that’s something I’m still totally behind. I mean, I’m as feminist as any woman.” As for the new Jonathan Anderson era, he says: “I love it. I think he brings something really new. And what stood out from his haute couture was that this was the first couture show I’ve ever seen that was young. But I didn’t impose myself too much. I said we have to give him time and space, I’m not going to knock on the door every two minutes about a new lipstick or whatever.”
Ruyu wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 2N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 0.5N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 015 Cherry and 063 Pink Lilac and Dior Forever Glow Luminizer in 03 Pink Halo; on eyes Dior Backstage Glow Maximizer Palette in 001 Universal Glow and Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 670 Sunset Bronze; on lips Rouge Dior lipstick in 802 Red Passion Velvet; on nails Dior Vernis in 582 Azur. All by DIOR MAKEUP
Does he ever, from the sidelines, wonder what if he’d carried on down a fashion route himself? Especially, I say, when beauty can be deemed to be so much more lightweight compared to fashion, where it’s well established that it can be looked at historically, intellectually or sociologically. “Well, my inspiration to become a make-up artist was purely out of a fashion point of view,” he says. But once he started to do non-fashion jobs “that’s when my eyes opened. Which is why I say that everybody wants to be beautiful. Not that everyone wants to be a model beauty, but they want to bring out the best in themselves. It can be natural grooming, a bit of foundation or mascara, a manicure every 10 days. But not everybody wants to be fashionable. And maybe [beauty] is seen as a bit more frivolous, as ‘Oh it’s just lip gloss’. Fashion is sort of elite. But working in this industry I see people transform. Once you realise how much impact little touches of cosmetics can have on somebody’s confidence, I think it’s actually even more important than fashion.” And, he adds, “It’s more affordable.” Which of course makes make-up that very Peter Philips of things: democratic.
Taken from 10 Magazine USA Issue 6 – CREATIVITY, CHANGE, FREEDOM – out March 18th! Order your copy here.
DIOR BEAUTY: BRUSH STROKE
Photographer PIERRE DEBUSSCHERE
Creative Director and Make-up PETER PHILIPS
Fashion Editor SOPHIA NEOPHITOU
Text EDWINA INGS-CHAMBERS
Make-up PETER PHILIPS using DIOR Beauty, Creative and Image Director for DIOR Makeup
Models VIKTORIA WIRS at Women Management and RUYU CHEN at Oui Management
Hair SEBASTIEN BASCLE at Calliste Agency
Manicurist MAGDA S.
Digital operator STEFANO POLI and MARCELLO POLI
Photographer’s assistants MAYA ZARDI and THIBAUT VASSEUR
Make-up assistants ESTELLE JAILLET and JINDIAN YANG
Fashion assistants GEORGIA EDWARDS and LILA SOEN at Noob Agency
Hair assistant LUKAS LALOUE
Manicurist’s assistant BETTY-ANN BETHENCOURT
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and PERROTTE
Producers CLARA PERROTTE and RACHAEL EVANS
Production assistants GILLIAN BOURGEOIS and SOPHIA ABDELLAOUI
Casting ARIANNA PRADARELLI
Special thanks to THOMAS NICKLEN at DIOR
Make-up throughout PETER PHILIPS for DIOR Beauty
Clothing and accessories throughout DIOR SS26
Viktoria wears on skin Dior Forever Skin Wear in 0N and Dior Forever Skin Correct in 00N; on cheeks Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 006 Berry and Dior Backstage Glow Maximizer Palette in 001 Universal Glow; on eyes Diorshow Overvolume mascara in 840 Overpink and Diorshow 5 Couleurs in 855 Rose Moiré; on lips Rouge Dior in 581 Virevolte Velvet; on nails Dior Vernis in 582 Azur. All by DIOR MAKEUP
