MAC Celebrates 40 Years with Black Women – Essence

Since 1984 MAC Cosmetics has a unbroken influence on the black community, providing us with essential tools and a variety of shades.

Think: their annual Glamour Ball VIVA— which has welcomed glam-clad guests like Mary J. Blige, Eve, Fantasia, Diana Ross, and more. Additionally, with its backstage presence at fashion weeks over time, with supermodels Naomi Campbell and Iman, MAC has proven to be accountable for the makeup behind a few of the biggest beauty moments in popular culture history — including Lil’ Kim’s archival metallic lipstick.

Now, as we have fun their fortieth anniversary during Fashion Week (where the brand will sponsor shows by Area, Kim Shui and Luar), we glance back on the legacy they built for black women.

“I think the brand, more than ever, is still rooted in what made MAC special from the beginning,” Aïda Moudachirou-Rebois, senior vice chairman and general manager of MAC, tells ESSENCE. “Artistry, inclusivity, culture… that was the heart of the brand, so that we could help people in our community who needed it the most.”

Despite the noise and competition in a saturated industry, MAC has remained the loudest within the room—largely due to its ability to take heed to its community. That means internally, too.

For MAC makeup professionals, Romero JenningsBeing with a brand for nearly 30 years means being heard. “I feel like I helped build and sustain that brand all those years ago,” he says. “Now, a lot of brands would say it’s on, but we had it from the beginning, which is why we had such a huge following of Black and brown people back then.”

Jennings recalls women from Harlem and the Bronx visiting MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation because no other brand had their shade. “A lot of people would say it was their first time doing makeup because before you had to mix or the colors weren’t right or they were too light,” says Jennings, as a powdered Grace Jones and the Prince.

Meanwhile, lip pencils developed firstly, we use them to at the present time (as Uche Natorifavorite shade chestnut) alongside the lipsticks we crave like CD 96, gave black women the representation they deserve.

Beyond products, MAC has built initiatives to support its teams and customers from inside. From participating in Black Beauty List to investing in funds, grants and creating internal secure spaces like Black At MAC and MAC Movement, the brand’s foundation is rooted not only in culture but in addition in influence. “We don’t have a ‘one size fits all’ approach because that’s kind of performative and a box-ticking thing,” says Moudachirou-Rebois.[We’re] “we really continue to strive to elevate culture in all its nuances.”

With 22% of MAC customers identifying as black (in comparison with the common 8% of U.S. luxury beauty consumers), the brand’s future is in our hands. “We don’t like to think of ourselves as a makeup brand, but as a cultural brand,” she says. “We have a responsibility to that consumer to really meet their needs.”