Index / 2026

Christopher Lee Sauvé

Creative directorBeauty, fashion, retailNew YorkSelected work 2026

Brand worlds for beauty, fashion and retail. And whatever comes next.

What I doDesign

I’m a creative director for beauty and fashion. Three things, from the first sketch to the store window:

  1. 01CampaignsMaybellineM·A·CKenneth Cole
  2. 02Brand identitiesJaclyn CosmeticsOld NavyFunction of Beauty
  3. 03Lettering & illustrationLeeBeauty­blenderSteve Madden
Selected motion, 2008 to 202630 seconds, cut from the case studies
Selected work(17)
MAYBELLINE NEW YORK Campaigns, film, brand 2024/26 → SEEN IT. Original fashion film series 2026 → CLINICALLY PROVEN Original series 2026 → MIRROR MIND Original series · Zine 2026 → M·A·C COSMETICS Viva Glam, Fashion Week 2011/14 → OLD NAVY Brand programs 2026 → MARC JACOBS Special projects 2015/18 → TEEEZ COSMETICS Art direction, film, collage 2016/18 → SMASHBOX Pride, social, packaging, collab 2020 → HOURGLASS Launch campaign 2018 → POPPY BEAUTY Brand identity 2021 → GROVE PET CARE Branding and packaging 2021 → THESIS Brand identity and packaging 2024 → LEE Campaign creative direction, illustration 2022 → LA MER Campaign concept 2026 → BEAUTYBLENDER Illustration, packaging 2025 → KENNETH COLE Campaigns, collaborations 2018/25 →
Featured / Maybelline New York2024/26
Maybelline SuperStay Lumi-Matte key visual: model in a beige trench Maybelline SuperStay Lumi-Matte key visual, close up: Princess laughing in a beige trench
Maybelline New York11.11 Max Out / SuperStay Lumi-Matte / Super Fluff / Shine Beast
The biggest beauty brand in the world, one launch at a time.View case study →
SEEN IT.2026
Original fashion film seriesView →
CLINICALLY PROVEN2026
Original seriesView →
Mirror Mind2026
Original series · ZineView →
M·A·C Cosmetics2011/14
M·A·C Fashion Week AW12: an eye in black and white under hand-lettered New York, London and Barcelona
Viva Glam, Fashion WeekView →
Old Navy2026
The Edit campaign concept: a stylist in pink cat-eye glasses and a navy blazer holding a giant pink pen
Brand programs · ConceptView →
Marc Jacobs2015/18
The Ziegfeld marquee: Marc Jacobs, one night only
Special projectsView →
Teeez Cosmetics2016/18
Teeez Fashion Vendetta campaign portrait with pink hair
Art direction, film, collageView →
Smashbox2020
Pride, social, packaging, collabView →
Hourglass2018
The gold CAUTION Extreme Lash Mascara on black with shards of broken glass
Launch campaignView →
Poppy Beauty2021
Poppy Beauty campaign portrait: sculpted hair and painted eyes on blue
Brand identityView →
Grove Pet Care2021
Four furry kind Foaming Shampoo bottles in red, orange, mint and yellow on blue and yellow blocks
Branding and packagingView →
THESIS2024
THESIS wild posting mockup: posters of a blue bottle and the vertical wordmark on marbled color
Brand identity and packagingView →
Lee2022
Lee Free Your Originality campaign with the gold stroke
Campaign creative direction, illustrationView →
La Mer2026
Campaign conceptView →
Beauty­blender2025
The Beautyblender Holiday 2025 pattern, hand drawn: sponges, stars, swirls and script
Illustration, packagingView →
Kenneth Cole2018/25
The band mid-song in Sesame Street x Kenneth Cole tees, the drummer in Cookie Monster
Campaigns, collaborationsView →
From the archiveOwn label, culture and earlier work
Own label / Save Anna and the T-Shirts2008/26
SaveAnna

A joke about Anna Wintour went around the world. Worn by Madonna and Miley Cyrus.

Save Anna, Pop Cult Club, People, DivineView →
Archive20 brands

Adbusters / Airwalk / Aldo / Athleta / Bandier / Bulova / Deck of Scarlet / Diane von Furstenberg / Dr. Martens / Eastpak / ELA / Josie Maran / Juicy Couture / Ralph Lauren / Sasson / Sephora / Simon / Theory / The Village Voice / Ulé

More work.Open →
Moving picturesSound off
MaybellineSuperStay Lumi-Matte
Marc JacobsCollage film
M·A·CFashion Week AW12
MaybellineShine Beast
Poppy BeautyBrand film
Kenneth Cole40 Years Bold
LeeWorld of Firsts
BulovaDiamond Collection
Maybelline11.11 Max Out
StudioReel 2016
01 / 10
StudioLettering, illustration, process, lab
Painting a lettered banner on the studio floor A wall of one-line ink face studies Mirror Mind, No. 193: red riso lips under yellow scribbles, Kiss written below in white script with a pink heart
The hand behind the work.Open →
InformationNew York

Manifesto

First in line.

I’ve always been first in line for the new thing. New formats, new platforms, new tools. Right now that’s AI.

The tools were never the point, though. Curiosity is. I find ideas in zines and club flyers, Peter Saville sleeves, the French New Wave, Nina Simone, and whatever’s taped to the lamppost outside.

I still start with a brush. Then I try everything.

I’d rather lead a team into something nobody’s done yet than polish what everybody has.

Let’s go find out.

Christopher Lee Sauvé at work by a window Christopher Lee Sauvé, drawn by Nicolas Tavitian in black marker
Hover meDrawn by Nicolas Tavitian
About, hand-lettered

Brands call me when they need to be noticed. I turn product benefits into ideas people share, read where beauty and fashion are heading next, and build the brand world that carries it from a phone screen to a store window.

I came up through punk, pop art and the fashion press: Adbusters in Vancouver, then New York, where a T-shirt I screen-printed in 2008, SAVE ANNA, went around the world and turned into a label. Since then I have led creative for M·A·C Cosmetics, Maybelline and Kenneth Cole, and designed the brand program marks for Old Navy. Typography, hand lettering, collage and illustration are how I think. Style guides and systems are how the idea survives the rollout.

Christopher Lee Sauvé

Practice

Campaign concepts
Branding and identity
Typography and lettering
Illustration and collage
Style guides
AI image and video

Press

The New York Times
Vogue
Vanity Fair
WWD
The Globe and Mail

Education

BFA, Communication Design
Emily Carr University

Clients

Selected / 26
  • Alexander Wang
  • Aldo
  • Bandier
  • Bare Minerals
  • Beauty­blender
  • Bulova
  • Diane Von Furstenberg
  • Dr. Martens
  • Estée Lauder
  • Hourglass
  • Juicy Couture
  • Kenneth Cole
  • L’Oréal
  • M·A·C Cosmetics
  • Marc Jacobs
  • Maybelline
  • Michael Kors
  • Old Navy
  • Ralph Lauren
  • Sephora
  • Shiseido
  • Smashbox
  • Steve Madden
  • Theory
  • Under Armour
  • Unilever