CHANEL Rouge Noir: The Tale of an Iconic Colour

ROUGE NOIR

I was born from a spark. An intuition. A nocturnal flash of inspiration. On the eve of the 1994/95 Autumn-Winter Ready-to-Wear show, three visionary minds, Creative Directors Dominique Moncourtois, Heidi Morawetz, and the legendary Karl Lagerfeld, brought me to life amidst the electric atmosphere of an active studio.

I am the product of a single night of creativity, the finishing touch to a look, a touch of mystery at your fingertips.

I am CHANEL ROUGE NOIR.

In 1995, I burst onto the beauty scene with the LE VERNIS collection. Some dismissed me as a passing fancy. They were wrong. I became a statement. Once daring, now legendary. The first to wear me were the world’s most famous models, actresses, and singers. I became a cult icon. On their hands, I gave form to every desire. An alluring object with a sensitive soul, I reveal personalities. From then on, everything accelerated. The press seized upon me. The public lit up. In the United States, they named me Vamp, but I remained the same: an undefinable, paradoxical, and irresistibly magnetic shade.

They say I am an iconic colour, halfway between myth and legend. A classic from yesterday and tomorrow. But I am more than that. I am a tension, a promise, an indisputable truth —timeless and unalterable. The effect I create and the mark I leave behind transform those around me. I am elegance expressed through detail. I am many colours at once: a red that’s almost black, a black that’s almost red. Sometimes there’s a gleam of cherry; at other times, a hint of pink.

In 2026, the CHANEL Makeup Creation Studio and Ammy Drammeh, member of the COMETES COLLECTIVE, write me a new chapter. I have now become an exclusive makeup collection that reveals all my facets.

More than a nail polish. More than a lipstick. I am worn on the eyes, the lips, and the face. My shade expands, shifts, and reinvents itself. From now on, I stand for something new: the power of modulation. Dark on the eyes, nude on the lips—I am balance in its truest form. I embody the art of variation. I am a master of nuance and imperceptible transformation. I am a sensitive palette, every touch reveals an emotion. Vibrant magentas electrify. Soft pinks soothe. Grey, a subtle nod to rock icons, brings unexpected audacity. I give every woman the freedom to shape me in her image, according to every whim. Let’s be irreverent, subversive, or timelessly elegant. Let’s play with contrasts. My shades reveal your true colours. I am no longer just a hue. I am a world of possibilities, a tribute to the complexity and beauty of who we are.

I am free. Free to be classic and irreverent. Free to be many things at once.
I am a colour that transcends time, trends, and gazes.
I am a statement, a bold expression of self. I am the embodiment of confidence.
I am never where you expect me to be.
I am CHANEL ROUGE NOIR.