Faffing Around with MAC

I knew it had to happen eventually.

You know when you find something and you think its totally hot sh*t and you just know its only a matter of time before it blows up and becomes massive.

Ladies and gentlemen, its time to acquaint yourselves with Fafi.


The road to discovery to Fafi began with my adorable little cousin, who was about 8 at the time, drawing a picture for me. She's a bit of a cheeky one so when she said "Auntie Temi, I drew a picture of a cartoon character that reminded me of you"...I wasn't too sure what to expect. So I was bowled over when she gave me this....I believe she's a character from Sonic.

(Yup, this is her pic, I scanned it and kept it a copy on my computer ...the original is still on my fridge).

Then a year later, when the universe conspired to make opening the first Tiger Tem possible, I was looking for images I could use with the decor. I wanted a huge wall mural and at the time I was obsessed with getting a sexy, sophisticated, cute, fun character designed for Tiger Tem....

In the end the Mr came up with the genius idea of re-interpreting my logo with butterflies, instead of a cartoon character and thus my mural was born.

FYI, my logo is the Ghanaian Adinkra symbol, the Sankofa, which means "Wisdom in learning from the past, in building for the future". And you thought it was just a shallow pretty picture.

BUT, the research into cartoon characters took me to Jessica Rabbit, the Manga girls,
Jordi Labanda, and then Fafi.

And oh my, with Fafi it was love at first sight. I am a hardcore researcher and when I'm looking for something I dig really deep. I think it was about 4/5 years ago I discovered the Fafi French website when it was all still in French. The Fafinettes are sexy, cute, fun, defiant, striking, appealing, cheeky, imaginative and very provocative and I LOVED them. I'm not a huge cartoon character fan but there was something so grown up yet playful about the Fafinettes that really appealed to my girly nature. You know I was a Barbie fan as a kid and the Fafinettes are like the badasses that Barbie could never be. And 2008...Barbie seems a little faux in the wrong ways (I blame Playboy) so we needed something with a little more edge.


This little hottie is my all time favourite Fafinette.






Fafi does Colette.
Get your mind out of the gutter...As in Colette the store in Paris


Fafi is a French artist who started making a name for herself in Toulouse with her provocative, badass images of her Fly Girls. She worked with hip hop styled stereotypes and using their sex appeal to her advantage, she started to gain more and more attention. She's done a toy set for Sony; the Time Capsules Collection as well as numerous exhibitions and collaborations with Colette, Adidas, LeSportSac, Coco-Cola and she and her badass Fafinettes have graced the pages of almost every major magazine.

But the event that really seems to have set the Fafinettes firmly on the map was the imagery Fafi did for the Mark Ronson and Lily Allen video, 'Oh My God'. Remember that minx of a character in a green dress? Directed by Nima Nourizadeh but the character was Fafi's work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYb9pkJqZf4

And now Fafi has just done a collaboration with MAC...so you know that means she's really mainstream as MAC don't waste their time (or cash). Its very anime inspired and with Gwen Stefani putting Harajuku Girls on the fashion map, the timing couldn't be better. Its all about a youthful, playful spirit which appeals to All Ages, All Races, All Sexes. These MAC people are pretty clever aren't they?

Take a look at the collection here.
http://www.maccosmetics.com/fafi/fafi.tmpl?ngextredir=1





They could have churned out a very drag queen collection but with clever use of sheer textures the colours are clear without being harsh, playful yet sophisticated and presented in pearlized effects with sheen and buildable textures. Which doesn't sound too scary.

Meet the MAC Fafinettes.



The colours of the actual makeup palette are a bit bright for me, I'm no make up aficionado...but I still love the concept. Love the dolls. And I love Fafi




And you know what? Maybe I'll find some budding artist who can create a character for Tiger Tem after all....Feel free to email any ideas to me! tigerbites@gmail.com.