M2M and Maybelline highlight three up-and-coming women in “A New York Minute”
Maybelline is veering away from the high-gloss glamor of the standard makeup ads to dig deeper into three distinct New York personalities with its “A New York Minute” video series, in collaboration with Made to Measure (M2M), a premium fashion video network that covers the world of fashion and style through fresh and culturally relevant storytelling.
M2M, started by IMG in late 2015, launched the branded content series for Maybelline New York to coincide with the start of New York Fashion Week. In the “Maybelline New York Presents: A New York Minute” series, three women star in their own vignettes, revealing each individual’s ‘hustle’ to make her respective dreams a reality. The three women were selected to appeal to different communities within fashion, showcasing diversity and the very real challenges and obstacles each has had to overcome to succeed. It wasn’t what they were born with, but what they have pushed themselves to become.
The series celebrates three diverse women: transgender actress and model Hari Nef, curve model Barbie Ferriera, and musician Destiny Frasqueri, aka Princess Nokia. It was filmed by IMG client and rising star Luke Gilford. In each, the focus is on the person and personality with the makeup being just a part of what makes these individuals beautiful.
In Nef’s film, she is shown auditioning for several roles in spaces around the city. We get intimate closeups of her putting on lipstick to prepare for each, with hope and frustration palpable on the screen.
For Ferriera, she is shown going on three dates, facing the camera as she asks uncomfortable first-date questions. Each features different looks, from cute to sultry as she changes her look for the date.
Nokia is seen at home, in the studio and talking with friends and family about her ambitions. The makeup serves as an accent to her big dreams and the support of those around her.
In short, these women represent beauty, diversity, and female empowerment in ways that are culturally relevant today, and this triptych of episodes successfully encapsulates the Maybelline world that is about young women making it happen in a ‘New York Minute’.
Previously, Maybelline New York partnered with M2M on a series called “Beauty Alchemist,” which launched in September 2016, as well as the brand’s presentation of M2M’s first original documentary, “Battle at Versailles.” Other brands committed to the M2M platform include Marc Jacobs, which partnered with M2M on the second season of “Off Book”, and Valentino, which worked with M2M on the short film “Valentino: Inside the Factory,” in which creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli shared their imaginative Pre-Fall 2016 collection.
M2M is available on Apple TV, its own website (https://m2m.tv/), iOS, Amazon, Roku, and Android TV.