How Dieux Is Making Skincare a Fashion Statement
We talked to the brand’s founders about sending their eye masks down the SS26 Eckhaus Latta runway.
At New York Fashion Week, beauty details rarely go unnoticed. Whether its an eye-catching cut crease or a light-reflecting lip look, the runway has become the prime place to forecast the season’s most impactful beauty trends. But, every innovative makeup detail requires an equally essential skincare prep routine. At Eckhaus Latta SS26, skincare brand Dieux brought its cult-favorite Forever Eye Mask to center stage, extending skincare’s role far beyond just prep and rendering it a part of the runway looks themselves.
While eye masks have become a cool girl symbol of ritualistic beauty routines, Dieux took the trend a step further by collaborating with Eckhaus Latta on a limited-edition, celestial-inspired version of the Forever Eye Mask — just in time for the skincare brand’s fifth year anniversary. For Dieux’s founders Charlotte Palermino and Joyce de Lemos, the collaboration is much more than just a NYFW moment — it’s an opportunity to align the brand’s ethos of community and culture with the designers and makeup artists they see as crucial parts of the brand’s upbringing.
Beyond that, the founders say that seeing their hero product worn on the runway represents a full-circle moment for the brand. Five years after its inception, the collaboration with Eckhaus Latta is a culmination of all the brand has accomplished, along with everything that’s yet to come. With an emphasis on making science-backed products more accessible, Dieux hopes to be a leader in the skincare space by valuing sustainability and transparency above all else.
Ahead, we speak to Dieux’s founders Charlotte Palermino and Joyce de Lemos about conceptualizing the limited-edition eye masks and the future of Dieux.
On Collaborating With Eckhaus Latta
De Lemos: New York Fashion Week has always been a special moment for us. We’re passionate about uplifting independent designers and supporting an industry that’s such an important part of NYC‘s cultural and economic fabric. For us, caring for the community means helping creatives bring their vision to life and build sustainable businesses. Makeup artists and designers aren’t just collaborators; they’ve been integral to Dieux’s own journey.
Partnering with a brand that shares our appreciation for thoughtful design, sustainability and storytelling feels like such a natural fit — dare we say, the stars couldn’t have aligned more perfectly. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that we’ve been genuine admirers of each other’s work for some time.
On the Inspiration Behind the Limited-Edition Eye Masks
Palermino: Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus loved the crescent shape of the masks and said it made them think of the phases of the moon. With poetry being an essential part of Eckhaus Latta’s DNA, we both loved the idea of bringing text onto the body in this playful yet chic and useful way. The words ‘sun in’ and ‘moon in’ draw on lunar cycles and connect back to the ritual of wearing the masks.
From the start, this was a true back-and-forth collaboration. After aligning on the celestial-inspired theme, the Eckhaus team shared a series of sketches that played with different shapes, colors and text placements. From there, we refined and iterated together until we landed on a design that felt both functional, elevated and true to both brands’ identities.
On the Role Skincare Plays in Fashion Week
Palermino: If there’s one thing we’ve learned from makeup artists it’s that skin prep is essential to flawless makeup. Dry skin leads to patchy foundation. We’ve been lucky to create relationships with makeup artists from Fashion Week and it’s where we learned that Instant Angel is the best moisturizer when it comes to an ethereal glow but also, nourishing skin that can be going through a lot. Models are in back-to-back shows, maybe they’re having some fun late at night, that can take a toll on your skin. We like to say that skincare helps you prep the canvas that is your face, the art goes on better when it’s properly prepped.
On What Sets Dieux Apart
Palermino: For one, we have a cosmetic chemist with over 15 years of experience as not only a key decision maker but also a co-founder. Joyce de Lemos used to create award-winning skincare behind the scenes, and now gets to make the products of [our] dreams without having to deal with branding teams that want to make a product more expensive because they can, or take out a preservative because it’s been wrongfully cancelled by some wellness movement. Beauty starts with the truth, and to us that means transparency with our pricing, but also, how you’re being marketed to.
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On Who Dieux Is For
De Lemos: Dieux is for anyone who wants skincare that’s effective, honest and doesn’t overpromise. For some, that means being able to dig into the science behind every ingredient while for others, it’s simply about knowing a product will deliver without guesswork. Also it’s for people who just, quite simply, want results.
On the Importance of Sustainability
De Lemos: We like to say we make good trash — almost everything in the United States ends up in a landfill, so it’s important to remember the only truly sustainable thing to do is buy less, and reuse. We always have more work to do, but the eye mask was the first step towards rethinking an entire category and asking; can we make this so you only have to buy it once?
On the Future of Dieux
Palermino: We follow the evidence when it comes to skincare, so you can expect science-backed products designed to become new staples in your routine. At Dieux, our goal is always to do better — whether in our formulas or our packaging — so you’ll see updates from us there too. Ultimately, we want to make science more accessible, more joyful and yes, more aspirational. That’s why you’ll also see more collaborations with brands and artists who bring clarity, creativity and perspective to the world.
The Eckhaus Latta x Dieux Solar Return Forever Eye Mask will be available for purchase on the brand’s website starting September 24.
