L’Oreal Addresses Lack of Female NFT Artists with Lipstick Launch
"My piece 'Radical & Free' is about women owning our power and is inspired by scientific research that proves humans emit light in extremely small quantities due to biochemical reactions," said Hueman, one of L’Oreal’s selected artists, in the release. "The human body literally glows; we are much more than our gender. There are so many layers beneath the surface, and they are complex, glimmering and pulsing with our own inner light."
"Through this program, we want to bring attention to the gender disparity in the NFT space and hope that we can shine a light on the women already working within the sector while attracting more women artists and buyers," said Maude Brunschwig, senior vice president of marketing, L'Oreal Paris, said in the recent release.
While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded in popularity, L’Oreal Paris USA used its latest lipstick launch to call out the booming market for its lack of female artist representation.
Women account for 16% of the NFT art market, and only 5% of all NFT sales, according to a recent report from art market research firm ArtTactic, based on Nifty Gateway's NFT sales during the past 21 months, which L’Oreal cited in a recent media release.
Due to the disparity, L'Oreal Paris has commissioned five female artists (who go by the names Amber Vittoria, Arina BB, Hueman, Lili Tae and Puks) to create NFT art inspired by the six shades of red in the brand’s new “Reds of Worth by Colour Riche” lipstick range. The program was executed in partnership with global talent, entertainment and sports company United Talent Agency (UTA), under its digital assets practice.
From Dec. 13-15, the Reds of Worth NFT pieces were auctioned on the OpenSea marketplace with an opening floor price of $1,500 for each. During a Twitter Spaces event on Dec. 14, the artists, who kept 100% of the primary NFT sales, spoke with OpenSea, UTA and L'Oreal to bring further awareness to the auction and share more about their work, inspiration from the program and what they've learned as female artists in the NFT space.
In addition, L’Oreal pledged to donate 50% of up to one year of the secondary market sales to support Women of Worth, the beauty brand’s signature philanthropic initiative that recognizes women making big differences in their communities.
Colour Riche's Reds of Worth is a collection of red hues marketed toward all skin tones. Launched in November, the collection is available in six classic shades at drugstores and mass merchants across the country.
L'Oreal joins a growing number of CPG brands, such as Mars Wrigley Confectionery’s Twix and Campbell Soup Company's Campbell's, in creating digital collectible art.