Yves Saint Laurent Beauté today announced rapper, singer and song-writer, Lil Nas X as its latest U.S. Ambassador. Both vanguards for innovation, Lil Nas X and YSL Beauté are taking the world by storm and pushing the boundaries of beauty as we know it today. Announcing Lil Nas X as the brand’s newest U.S. Ambassador taps into the transformative power of beauty, inspiring independent self-expression for individuals and communities driven to change the world alongside YSL.
The brand is recognized for its position at the forefront of culture and is equipped with an arsenal of innovative products, with each collection defining a new age of expression. The announcement from YSL Beauté and Lil Nas X shatters the ceiling and enables fearless, boundary-pushing artistry to remold beauty as it is understood today. With the ability to create and inspire change, YSL Beauté and Lil Nas X are elevating the cultural landscape, reaching new heights, and challenging norms that have boxed in creatives for generations.
In this partnership, YSL Beauté and Lil Nas X bring to life a groundswell of forward-thinking beauty – sweeping away conventional thought and ushering in a new standard: glamour through individuality, beauty as self-expression, and luxury as a vessel for change. Introducing an unreleased, never-heard-before track, Lil Nas X and YSL Beauté bring a musical thrum into the desert for this campaign.
“Lil Nas X embodies YSL Beauté’s vision for the future of the beauty industry: boundary-breaking, unique, unapologetic, bold” says Laetitia Raoust, YSL Beauté U.S. General Manager. “The synergies between the brand and Lil Nas X’s unwavering passion for individuality are the inspiration behind this partnership with the hope it empowers the next generation of beauty.”
Lil Nas X is known for boldly challenging conventional beauty standards, and has created a name for himself rooted in passion, creativity and fearless attitude – much like Mr. Saint Laurent himself set out to do with the creation of the Yves Saint Laurent brand, which remains the foundation of campaigns and assortments today.
“The partnership with YSL Beauté is one of the most thoughtful and impactful collaborations we’ve orchestrated,” says Jennifer Frommer, SVP, Partnerships & Commercial Licensing at Columbia Records. “Like Lil Nas X, the campaign is brave, it challenges the status quo and reminds us to keep pushing the boundaries of identity.”
“It’s been a lot of fun working on this campaign with YSL Beauté – they’re such an iconic brand, and I’m happy to be a part of something so unique and groundbreaking in the beauty world,” says Lil Nas X. “Shout out to YSL for embracing me and my campness and for inspiring change for the next generation of beauty.”
As part of his role as YSL Beauté U.S. Ambassador, Lil Nas X will be featured in a series of content to be leveraged on YSL Beauté’s digital platforms and in U.S. media campaigns (digital and out-of-home advertisements), supporting the YSL Beauté Makeup latest innovations and the brand’s iconic men’s fragrance bestseller, Y.
The new campaign is anchored in the premiere of YSL Beauté’s newest lip icon: Rouge Pur Couture: The Bold. A couture, high pigment lipstick for those who aren’t shy, this new addition to the family pushes color, shine and comfortability to the max. Innovation is a key component of the YSL DNA and this new formula provides bolder, intense color that feels like a second skin. The Bold, like you, lasts all night long and delivers a finish that’s in a league of its own – not gloss, not satin, not matte – but pure, uninhibited, three-dimensional shine. It is featured alongside YSL’s latest eye innovation, Lash Clash Mascara – delivering 200% volume and a couture, Noir finish.
As the brand welcomes Lil Nas X as its new YSL Beauté U.S. Ambassador, it hopes to encourage its community to unapologetically embrace themselves and who they are, louder than ever before – to never stand for being defined, defied, or denied. Lil Nas X’s appointment perfectly complements the U.S. Ambassador collective of change makers, agents for a better future, who celebrate individuality and modernity, in the likes of Troye Sivan, Barbie Ferreira and Indya Moore.
