Biography
British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury is one of the United Kingdom's most famous exports in the makeup industry. She has created campaign looks for Tom Ford , Roberto Cavalli , Michael Kors , Dsquared2, Stella McCartney , Loewe and H&M. She has been responsible for beauty campaigns for Burberry and Tom Ford , two of fashion’s biggest beauty players.
Editorially, Tilbury has contributed covers and editorials to French, British, Spanish and Brazilian Vogues, among many more titles. She regularly works as a show makeup director for brands as wide ranging as Hakaan, Zadig & Voltaire, Vionnet, Mugler and Donna Karen.
Having moved from Ibiza when she was 9 years old, Tilbury discovered the power of cosmetics while at boarding school in England. “Makeup literally changed my life. I put on mascara and the whole world’s reaction to me changed. I remember feeling kind of hurt about that. And then I realised, actually, I’m just like everybody else.” Tilbury attended Glauca Rossi School of Makeup in London to learn her trade.
Tilbury launched the Rock & Kohl festival at Selfridges in 2013, with the unveiling of a lenticular image of lifelong friend and muse Kate Moss . As evidence of her popularity in the industry, many friends turned up in show of their support, including Nicola Formichetti , Cara Delevingne , Bay Garnett, Laura Bailey, Mario Testino and Moss.
In summer 2013, Tilbury launched her own eponymous line of cosmetics at London's Selfridges. The brand quickly became one of the department store's most popular makeup counters and is now stocked by the likes of Fenwick's, Harvey Nichols and Net-a-Porter, as well as Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman in the US, and won over 160 awards by 2018. In November 2015, the Charlotte Tilbury flagship store opened in London’s Covent Garden, with further expansions in the US, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Dubai and over 60 other international locations.
In Spring 2019, it was announced the company was in merger talks, with Estée Lauder a potential candidate. Tilbury is also sold on Sephora’s website, and will open doors in Los Angeles by summer 2019. In the same year, the company was also accused of using actress Brooke Shield’s name for an eyebrow product without permission, resulting in a lawsuit.
In June 2020, Tilbury sold a majority stake of the independent beauty brand to Spanish group Puig for an estimated $1 billion. Despite going into partnership with Puig, Tilbury remains chairman, president and chief creative officer at Charlotte Tilbury, while also claiming a significant minority stake.