EnamouRED 80 Years of Revlon

I bet everyone is reading now has got at least a Revlon product in her make up bag or at home. Revlon has been trading for 80 years and to celebrate  this important anniversary an exhibition has been held at the new Film Museum in Covent Garden. For three days only it has been possible to see items from the Revlon archive, videos of their advertising, piece of art inspired by the colour Red which has dominated the palette for 80 years.

Curator for this exhibition has been Ryan Lanji who has curated several exhibitions and fashion events with great success. Always mixing art with fashion, I've met Ryan Lanji at the launch of Dash Magazine, so I knew what expect from this exhibition. A perfect marriage between culture and fashion, with a catalogue that guided the guests during the opening and the following visitors on the days the exhibition has been opened to the public, through Charles Revson 's history and the birth of the modern make up.

I think that this artwork by Bobby John Patmore is absolutely incredible. This installation called " Architecture of an Empire" is the symbol of the Revlon company. Over 2500 bottles of nail varnish in red and black form this sculpture where the pots are encased in a wire fencing structure.

"Baton Rouge" by Linton Meagher is another artwork installation that really caught my eyes. It is made of hundreds of imitation lipsticks in resin. All the lipsticks are exactly replicas of the real Revlon products both in packaging and colours.

This relic is none others that one of the oldest nail varnish bottles from the Revlon archive. The colour is the Chilibean, one of the first nail varnish in production, this colour is not longer in the range. As you can see the bottle is not sophisticated as they are now, it is very simple, but in the 1940s packaging wasn't one of the strongest points in many companies.

When thinking of shoes and red the name that comes up on everyone's mind is Christian Louboutin who painted with red nail varnish the sole of his shoes. Was it Revlon Red that has been used? We don't know but artist Alice Melita Steffen has created this installation called " Message in a Bottle" with  completely red shoes enclosed in a bottle that looks like a nail varnish pot, with a pair of iconic Louboutin on the top.

Jenny Longworth is the Revlon UK Nail Ambassador and she is a regular presence backstage during  London Fashion Week, creating nail art for the best catwalks. This artwork called " Cherry " has been made by Jenny using acrylic nails, sequins and a mannequin's bust. With this installation Jenny Longworth matches fashion, the woman's body and the nail art using Revlon shades.

Obviously not only art installations have been on display at the exhibition. Screens showed videos from previous Revlon commercials dated back to the 1960s, as well as magazines, press pictures, displays and more from the Revlon archive. A great exhibition that did not last long for everyone to visit. Let's hope that all the fantastic items displayed will be seen in other occasions.