Pat McGrath Is Going for Gold (and Silver)
The makeup mogul chats to Hypebae about her brand new collaboration with Pandora.
Makeup royalty Pat McGrath just announced her latest collaboration, and it’s a little on the unexpected side. Teaming up with jewelry brand Pandora, McGrath has lent her signature charm to literal charms, and the result is pretty magical.
Resulting in a 17-piece collection of charms and rings, the collaborative offering features miniature make-up signatures and Pandora statement pieces, enveloped in shimmering gold, vivid purple and bright red. Crafted from ombre enamel and crystals, the collection is everything you’d expect from McGrath, and then some.
As the collaboration officially launches, we caught up with the icon to find out more about how the collaboration came about, how the design process differed from the makeup world and what advice McGrath has for those who wish they could be a little more bold.
Read on for the full interview and head to the Pandora website on October 8 to shop the new collection.
Tell me a bit about the decision to partner with Pandora on this collection, and what made you decide to branch out of beauty?
I never really thought of it as branching out of beauty. To me, it’s more about expanding the definition of beauty. Jewelry and makeup, in a way, come from the same wonderful instinct. It’s all about how to adorn ourselves, and it gives us a chance to express ourselves, transform ourselves. That’s what I love about working with jewelry and working with the team at Pandora, and working with Francesco and Filippo. Jewelry and makeup come from the same kind of instinct, right? To adorn yourself, express who you are, transform how you feel. I think — and I know — Pandora has an incredible history of turning personal stories into beautiful items that you can wear. I immediately saw the opportunity to bring that together with my world of color and texture and artistry. So, the collection is really about taking those iconic beauty references and giving them a new life. It felt really natural.
Amazing. With that in mind, how did the creative process behind this project differ from how you usually work?
It started with color. I think it always does. We had some wonderful meetings with Francesco and Filippo, discussing color and talking about how emotional it is — it can transform how you feel, how you see yourself, how you want to be seen in the world. I thought about how this has been part of my creative language for so many years: powerful metallics and luminous gold that come alive in the light. So, together with Francesco and Filippo, we began translating that language of beauty into jewelry, through symbols that are synonymous with beauty: lips, hearts, all of those beautiful items that are in the collection. I would say they feel unexpected and joyful, and they made them feel like items you really want. So Pandora’s craftsmanship, my obsession with color, shine and transformation — it really went hand in hand, and we had a lot of fun making these incredible jewelry moments together.
I can imagine. What was the first thing you did in terms of the process? Where did you start?
I remember starting by looking at colors and looking at shapes that felt iconic to me and iconic to Francesco and Filippo. It was a lot of fun, looking at the icons of beauty and the icons that you really want to wear.
Thinking about color, and how much that’s a big part of your process — it’s a big focal point for this collection, and it feels like quite an antithesis to the “clean girl” aesthetic that people have been talking about a lot online, especially recently. What do you think about the clean girl aesthetic?
I love it. I think you always need one to set off the other. For me, you’ve got the clean girl aesthetic, but then you add a pop of color to your lips, or go stronger on your blush. I think everything nowadays is transformative, and there are no rules. Clean girl can lean into that “powerful girl” idea, making your eyebrows thin, making your lips red.
I always see the clean girl aesthetic as what we did in the ’90s, that “no-makeup makeup.” A lot of ideas in beauty have been around for 20, 30 years. I’d call the clean girl aesthetic a return to that no-makeup makeup, a return to the ’90s. And then it’s fantastic adding stronger color, playing with stronger shape. But clean girl was always the base, always the beginning, and from there you build. So I love both; both belong together, and there’s space for both, which is nice.
How would you describe your makeup style, and how did you discover it? How did you know what worked for you, or what you were drawn towards?
For me, it was always about starting with beautiful skin. Illuminated skin. I started at a time when it was a lot of full-face makeup, and it’s so lovely to see that it’s back again. But I really did start with that luminous skin, and then adding touches of bravery, whether bold metallics on the eye or a really powerful jeweled red lip.
[Back then], it was the whole idea of makeup becoming jewelry, makeup becoming a moment, from glittered lips to really beautiful pigmented eyes; your makeup became an accessory. That’s something I’ve done throughout my career and love to do. So it’s about starting with that beautiful, simplistic skin but adding really strong touches: a bold eye, a thin eyebrow, or a bold lip. I really think this, and the whole collection, is a moment to celebrate that.
What advice do you have for people who are a little afraid to add bold colors to their style, both in fashion and beauty?
I’d say start with one moment of color and see how that makes you feel. It might be a red lip, or a little flash of blue close to the eyeline, a colorful ring, or one charm catching the light. Then perhaps tomorrow you add another color, another charm. It’s about layering, and it’s about experimenting without thinking about whether you’re “allowed” to. That’s when it becomes fun. It’s the same with makeup — try having brave moments with color, whether a bold red lip or going a little heavier on the cheeks. Experimentation is fun.
Going back to the collection… What’s your favorite piece, and why?
It’s so difficult. Each piece has its own personality, and that’s what makes a collection so special. It’s not about one perfect piece; it’s about creating your own unique combination and letting it tell your own story. That’s something Pandora does very well. If I truly had to choose, it would be the lipstick charm. There’s nothing more fun than a bold lip.
Finally, how do you see this relationship with Pandora evolving in the future? Would you want a part two?
Absolutely, I would love that. This collaboration has shown how much possibility there is when you bring beauty, fashion and color together. It’s a new medium. I always love to push things further and go bolder than before, and experimenting with new colors, symbols and textures is limitless – a great example of why creativity should never stand still. I’ve never been good at leaving an idea alone; once I see more possibilities, creativity should keep evolving. I’d love to see where this could go.
