In June last year, Mia Freedman spoke to Poppy King in New York City. She shared her fascinating story – which is far from over.
If you were born in the nineties, shame on you. Just kidding. But if you were in fact born in the 90s, the name Poppy King may not mean much to you. Go ask your mother about her. Your mother will lose her shit and then get a faraway look in her eye.
Because for those of us who were born BEFORE the 90s, Poppy King was an icon. She was our Estee Lauder but young and cool and amazing and AUSTRALIAN.
Poppy was a girl who launched a small range of lipsticks when she was 19 years old. She had no business background. Not even a tertiary education. But as a woman with lips, she felt alienated by the way lipstick was then being marketed to women.
After her iconic matte lipsticks came Poppy's gloss range, Shine.
It was all daggy brushed gold packaging and pearly, frosted or satiny shades called things like Pastel Princess and Snowberry Dream. These names and shades and the branding that went with them from the handful of multi-national corporations who owned the cosmetics market, did not speak to Poppy and she felt strongly that they didn't speak to other contemporary women either.
The way lipsticks were marketed to women had simply not evolved along with women themselves and Poppy saw a gap she decided to fill. So she did, finding an investor and launching a small line of matte lipsticks. She loved retro film stars and all the associated glamour of that era and though matte lipsticks were back-to-the-future modern for a new generation of women.
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Currently available as 'lipstick queen' at Mecca