Index / 2026

Christopher Lee Sauvé

Creative directorBeauty, fashion, retailNew York, NYSelected work, 2008 to 2026

Brand worlds for beauty, fashion and retail.

What I do15+ years / New York

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(14)
MAYBELLINE NEW YORK Campaigns, film, brand 2024/26 → M·A·C COSMETICS Viva Glam, Fashion Week 2011/14 → OLD NAVY Brand programs 2026 → MARC JACOBS Show identity 2015 → TEEEZ COSMETICS Art direction, film, collage 2016/18 → POPPY BEAUTY Brand identity 2021 → JACLYN COSMETICS Brand identity for Morphe   → ACT OF BEING Brand identity and launch 2019/20 → FUNCTION OF BEAUTY Brand refresh, style guide 2022 → LEE Campaign creative direction, illustration 2022/23 → LA MER Campaign concept 2026 → BEAUTYBLENDER Illustration, packaging 2025 → KENNETH COLE Campaigns, collaborations 2023/25 → STEVE MADDEN Campaign, lettering, product 2016 →
Featured / Maybelline New York2024/26
Maybelline SuperStay Lumi-Matte key visual: model in a beige trench Maybelline SuperStay Lumi-Matte close-up: a luminous matte cheek and eye
Maybelline New YorkSuperStay Lumi-Matte / Super Fluff / Shine Beast / 11.11 Max Out
The biggest beauty brand in the world, one launch at a time.View case study →
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
Old Navy The Culture Club: two friends in denim and navy sitting inside the lens of a giant camera
Brand programsView →
Marc Jacobs2015
The Ziegfeld marquee: Marc Jacobs, one night only
Show identityView →
Teeez Cosmetics2016/18
Teeez Fashion Vendetta campaign portrait with pink hair
Art direction, film, collageView →
Poppy Beauty2021
Poppy Beauty campaign portrait: sculpted hair and painted eyes on blue
Brand identityView →
Jaclyn Cosmetics
Jaclyn Cosmetics jar with the Jaclyn wordmark
Brand identity for MorpheView →
Act of Being2019/20
Act of Being brand book cover: the wordmark across a closed eye
Brand identity and launchView →
Function of Beauty2022
Function of Beauty bottle pattern in mint, lilac, peach and butter
Brand refresh, style guideView →
Lee2022/23
Lee Free Your Originality campaign with the gold stroke
Campaign creative direction, illustrationView →
La Mer2026
La Mer iceberg concept
Campaign conceptView →
Beauty­blender2025
The Beautyblender Holiday 2025 pattern, hand drawn: sponges, stars, swirls and script
Illustration, packagingView →
Kenneth Cole2023/25
A Kenneth Cole window covered in hand-drawn 40 Years Bold lettering
Campaigns, collaborationsView →
Steve Madden2016
Steve Madden Amplified: model in pink faux fur slides
Campaign, lettering, productView →
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 →
Archive21 brands

Adbusters / Airwalk / Aldo / Alrosa / Animist / Bandier / bareMinerals / Bulova / Deck of Scarlet / Diane von Furstenberg / Dr. Martens / Eastpak / ELA / Hourglass / Olaplex / Ralph Lauren / Sasson / Smashbox / Theory / The Village Voice / Zak

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
Maybelline11.11 Max Out
StudioReel 2016
01 / 09
StudioLettering, illustration, process, lab
Painting a lettered banner on the studio floor Hand-lettered Happy New Year in brush and ink on the desk Hand-lettered cards drying on the cutting mat
The hand behind the work.Open →
InformationNew York

Sauvé /soh·vay/
French, adjective

  1. Saved.
  2. Rescued from the predictable.
  3. See also: SAVE ANNA, 2008.

Manifesto

A new way of seeing things.

I avoid the predictable and explore past the limits of my industry, and yours.

I look to culture to widen the view: zines and white papers, sidewalks and museums, punk and pop art, Peter Saville sleeves, the French New Wave, Nina Simone, ink, graffiti, the clever thing on the street that stops you.

I let curiosity solve the problem, follow the feeling and bring you along from first sketch to final frame.

Part guide, part collaborator. On a mission to remind you of your own creativity.

Christopher Lee Sauvé at work by a window
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.

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