Newsletter #55: The importance of James Kaliardos - more than a makeup artist

This week’s podcast was all about beauty news, and included a special section on the brilliance of makeup artist James Kaliardos. It all started with Lori Harvey getting ready for Vogue World on YouTube…

When IT Girl Lori looks over at her makeup artist, James Kaliardos, she simply introduces him as ‘James, my makeup artist.’ Which makes sense; Lori can afford the absolute best when it comes to her glam squad, and she does not owe anyone any credit, but I decided to use my podcast to create an extra episode, just so I could share a little information on James’ career, which began back in the 1990s.

I also created a TikTok on James and it’s received such good feedback from people who had either never heard of him before, or were glad to be reminded of his influence. Of course, there were a couple of comments saying that I’m unfairly ‘coming for Lori’ or ‘feigning annoyance’ and it’s not true at all. I was kind of annoyed, not at Lori - just at the missed opportunity.

Lori Harvey, makeup by James Kaliardos

It feels like, in 2022, information (often incorrect information at that) is shared without even a second being spent on adding a little context. When you’re in a position of influence, you have the ability to really celebrate someone’s work. In this instance, a high profile client is paying someone for a service and they don’t owe any public reviews or endorsements, but for me, James Kaliardos is highly influential, and not just in beauty. Here are just some of the reasons why…

Visionaire co-founders Stephen Gan, Cecelia Dean and James Kaliardos

New York-based James studied at the prestigious Parsons School of Design, where he focused on art history, photography, theatre and film, a decision which absolutely would have inspired him to go on to be one of the founders of the legendary Visionaire, a fashion-forward so-called experiential agency that produces films, events and publications. Launched in 1991 alongside Cecelia Dean and Stephen Gan, Visionaire has earned itself a reputation for highlighting the most interesting moments and people in fashion, art and film. They’ll often create these stunning themed issues with some costing as much as $1,000 and there was one special Louis Vuitton issue that went for $5,000.

Visionaire #52

Copies of Visionaire can sell for anything up to $5,000.

Visionaire also launched one of my favourites, the highly influential V magazine in 1999, VMan in 2003 and former editor in chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book in 2012. In 2014 the initial trio split, so today Cecelia and James run the company and the title Visionaire, while Stephen retained V and VMan.

James is also highly respected in the beauty world, and is often the artist that brands either want to collaborate with on a new range, or have backstage creating catwalk looks. We’re talking MAC, Nars, Tom Ford, Fenty Beauty, Makeup Forever – the list goes on it comes to makeup launches that have changed the face of beauty.

He’s worked on movies, music videos and his work has been seen in publications from Vogue to Allure and his celebrity clientele has taken him from working with Madonna in the ‘90s to Miley Cyrus, and of course, Lori Harvey. I think it’s all down to James’ highly attuned editorial eye; he simply knows what works and he creates looks that are super impactful but never fussy or overly-done.

James for Tom Ford

One thing I personally love about James’ style, is that he’s never been a fan of a prescribed idea of prettiness; as he said in a 2016 interview for thekit.ca, he’s always been more into the girls who look even better than pretty – it’s about looking interesting and that looks different on everyone. So that’s that on James; I just wanted to share a little bit about who he is, just in case you happened to see his work with Lori Harvey. Lori might be an It girl but James is IT when it comes to beauty and innovation.

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