Chanel Names Lucia Pieroni Creative Makeup Director

Chanel has appointed veteran makeup artist Lucia Pieroni as its new creative makeup director, extending her runway collaboration with Matthieu Blazy.

Chanel has named Lucia Pieroni its creative makeup director, with the role effective September 14, 2026. According to WWD, she works alongside the house's Makeup Creation Studio and reports to Simona Cattaneo, Chanel's president of fragrance and beauty. Pieroni said in a statement that joining Chanel is 'a great honor' and that she is excited to bring to fruition 'a new chapter in makeup for this iconic brand.'

The appointment stands out because Pieroni is already embedded at the house: WWD reports she has created runway beauty alongside Matthieu Blazy since his first Chanel collection in October 2025, meaning an existing collaborator is being elevated to a top creative post under the new artistic director. TheIndustry.beauty frames it as part of Chanel's creative development under Blazy, so the move signals the runway partnership is now shaping the brand's broader makeup direction.

Pieroni brings roughly 35 years of experience spanning fashion, editorial and cosmetics. Multiple sources report that the British-born, painter-trained artist began in London before settling in New York, and that from 2006 to 2019 she served as creative director of makeup at Shiseido Group's Clé de Peau Beauté. According to WWD, her work has appeared in images by Mert Alas, Marcus Piggott, Craig McDean, David Sims and Mario Sorrenti, and she has created looks for celebrities including Madonna, Cameron Diaz and Vanessa Paradis.

Cattaneo told WWD that for Pieroni, makeup is 'never about correcting or transforming a face' but about revealing its singularity, a vision she called consistent with Chanel's beauty philosophy, invoking Gabrielle Chanel's quote that 'beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.' The stakes are commercial as well as creative: TheIndustry.beauty reports Chanel posted $19.3 billion in 2025 revenues, up 2%, with operating profit rising 5% to $4.7 billion, and notes the house opened more than 25 dedicated fragrance and beauty boutiques in 2025.

Pieroni joins a makeup creation structure that WWD notes has taken several shapes: the Comètes Collective trio appointed in October 2022, and earlier figures including Lucia Pica (from 2015) and Peter Philips (2008–2013), after Dominique Moncourtois and Heidi Morawetz helmed the division for nearly three decades. TheIndustry.beauty reports Chanel announced the appointment on Instagram, saying her 'extraordinary eye for beauty and unique artistic vision' would open a new chapter, so readers can expect her first product and campaign direction to emerge from that collaboration.