INTRODUCTION
Welcome
The Makeup Museum is pleased to present Girls Illustrated: Stila at 25. In honor of Stila’s 25th anniversary in 2019, the exhibition takes an in-depth look at the illustrations of fashionable women that graced much of the packaging from the brand’s inception through 2013. The Stila girls, as they came to be known, were an integral part of the brand’s marketing in its early days and played a significant role in Stila’s growth and success. The exhibition explores the reasons for the girls’ popularity, the artists behind the illustrations, and the impact the Stila girls made on the cosmetics industry and beauty culture.
All images in the exhibition are from the Makeup Museum’s collection unless otherwise noted.
The Company
Stila Cosmetics was founded in 1994 by makeup artist Jeanine Lobell, who envisioned a sophisticated yet accessible line for the modern woman. “I wanted to create easy-to-use formulas that created a more natural kind of beauty, as well as having a pro-women message.” (1) The brand’s name comes from the Italian word stilare (“to pen” or “to write”), because Lobell felt every woman’s makeup should be as individual as her signature. (2) The no-fuss cardboard packaging spoke to Lobell’s pared-down approach, while the quotes by famous women on the inside of the containers exuded girl power. By 1997 the company was doing $15 million in sales. Two years later Stila was worth $20 million and sold to Estée Lauder to help it expand worldwide. (3) Stila was already immensely popular overseas, but the sale furthered their reach into the growing Asian market. By 2006 Stila was a top brand in the region, especially in Japan and Taiwan, where they established counters at major department stores including Isetan and FE21 Mega.
In 2004 Lobell left the company, and in 2006 Stila was sold from Estée Lauder to Sun Capital. It was sold again in 2009 to private equity firm Patriarch Partners. While the company was owned by Patriarch president Lynn Tilton, the marketing and packaging design responsibilities fell to Jill Tomandl, Chief Creative Officer for Product Development, Package Design, and Innovation. The brand seemed to have lost it way by then, but Tomandl, who had been with Stila since 2001, tried to ensure Stila would continue to be a leading brand. She oversaw the development of new products and innovative packaging that did not include the Stila girls, but also saw the value of using the illustrations on occasion to keep the line recognizable to its original fan base. “The ‘Stila girl’ illustration was conceptualized as the spokesperson for the brand, so women do not have to aspire to look like a model. The illustrations can be easily created each season, as fashion changes. The package is as important as the product. Who does not know the ‘Stila Girl,’ the brand’s iconic fashion illustration?’ Tomandl said in 2012.
One year later, however, the Stila girl made her final appearance on the brand’s packaging. The girls were briefly brought back to advertise several new palettes in 2016 and an Instagram campaign in 2017, and a rather generic version of the illustrations made its way onto a 25th anniversary set for Stila’s holiday 2019 collection, but overall they disappeared from the brand.
1. The Detroit Free Press, January 11, 1998, accessed at newspapers.com November 12, 2019.2. While this is generally accepted as the true origin of the Stila name, a 2011 interview reveals an alternative explanation: “[My friend and I] kind of just made up the name, ‘Stila.’ It sounds sort of like stil in Swedish, which means style,” Lobell stated.
3. The National Post, August 16, 1999, accessed at newspapers.com November 12, 2019.
The Girls
While they were a way of making the brand stand out in a crowded market, the Stila girl illustrations were partially conceived as a cost-saving measure. “Illustration for cosmetics, nobody did that before us—using drawings of girls instead of photography. There were so many illustrations we were cranking out, mostly because we couldn’t afford a model,” Lobell states in a 2011 interview. (4) By 1998 the girls had become part of Stila’s DNA, appearing regularly in the brand’s packaging and advertising. In an exclusive interview with the Makeup Museum, Lobell reiterates the importance of the illustrations for setting the brand apart. “I always knew the girls made us different from the beginning. As we became able to advertise they were the natural visual option.”
Stila quickly established itself as a leading brand due to quality products, fashion-forward yet attainable makeup looks, and a fleet of skilled artists to disseminate modern application techniques. (5) It was also among the first mainstream brands to offer recyclable and refillable packaging, ideas well ahead of their time. However, the role of the illustrated girls in the company’s success should not be undermined. The lack of models made for a more approachable line and encouraged a unique makeup style. As Mark Dolliver, writing for AdWeek in 2000 and 2001, notes, “the illustrational style spares readers the indignity of comparing their own skin (perhaps less than perfect?) with the flawless face of a photographic model. [Customers] respond to an ad that doesn’t imply they’re duds without the transformative help of the advertiser’s glop. For these women, the campaign’s collection of illustrated characters will also seem less unreal than the usual picture-perfect models--i.e., the sort who would look gorgeous without a dab of lip glaze.” Lobell confirms: “You know, there’s a saying, ‘compare and despair’ – [the illustrations] just made it something fun, cute, collectible…I wanted illustrations as I felt that I didn’t want women to compare themselves to extremely beautiful and retouched models. The idea became that the girl represented the spirit of the product more than anything.”(6)
On a purely aesthetic level, the illustrations were highly appealing. From 1994 through 2013, Stila employed several talented artists to make the Stila girl come to life. Echoing Lobell’s comments above, many of the brand’s devotees regarded any packaging featuring Stila girls as collectible and purchased items to be simply admired nearly as frequently as they used them (or not used at all). Customers hoarded Stila postcards and brochures that were given out at stores, and the enormously popular paint cans that served as a more decorative way to hold disposable makeup applicators were regularly stolen off Stila counters. Throughout the early and mid-2000s a variety of gift-with-purchase and novelty items made their way into collectors’ hands thanks to the rise of online makeup forums like Makeup Alley, which allowed Stila fans around the globe to swap country-exclusive products. Umbrellas, t-shirts, calendars and makeup bags with the girls were highly coveted. In 2008 an entire Stila fan club launched in Malaysia, with members receiving rewards such as mugs and other memorabilia. The Stila girls were popular not only among the average consumer but the art world as well: the Victoria and Albert Museum displays a container of Stila’s Flaunt body powder in their Prints, Drawings and Painting collection.
Despite the rapid changes in ownership, Stila attempted to be consistent in their marketing by expanding the use of illustrations outside of packaging and advertising. The company was among the first to experiment with live drawing at store openings and events, where customers could be drawn as a Stila girl by an artist stationed in the store. With the rise of social media and changing consumer tastes, however, the brand eventually dropped illustrations entirely, opting instead for minimal brushed gold packaging.
4. During the early days of the modern beauty industry, illustration for beauty ads was standard. It was around the 1950s that photography started to overtake illustrations.5. Lobell credits the trained makeup artists in particular for the brand’s early success. “I think it was a combination of the girls, the product packaging, and also we had such a fantastic team of makeup artists in the stores…they were so talented, friendly, adorable - I was super proud of them.” Interview with the Makeup Museum, December 3, 2019.
6. Interview with the Makeup Museum, December 3, 2019.