POPSUGAR: How did you come to collaborate with MAC?
Chris Chang: It’s a dream come true. I never thought that I would be applying my aesthetics to cosmetics. I have done colors and patterns all my life and I’ve used MAC since I was in college, so when [the brand] found me in China, it felt like the perfect fit.
It just felt like a getting together of kindred spirits that were all about colors and were inspired by daring, confident women — who dress for themselves, who do the makeup for themselves and not necessarily to be sexy or be pleasing to men. I really hope we find women around the world that won’t care about “what my boyfriend thinks” when wearing that blue lipstick, because it's all for ourselves.
PS: Do you remember what your first MAC product was?
CC: Lipstick! Yeah, because I’ve got these big gigantic lips that are so uncommon for the Chinese. I was taunted a lot as a child, and these lips didn’t become appealing or "on trend" until the last seven or eight years. But before that, it was something I was insecure about. That insecurity turned into the extreme. [Now] I want to play it up and I don’t care if people find it appealing or attractive.
PS: What’s the story behind the print on the packaging?
CC: This collection is called “Kunqu Madness,” and it's about giving something historical a futuristic spin. Kunqu is one of the oldest performance arts in China. [The performers] have really theatrical, colorful makeup and headdresses — everything is very elaborate. When the MAC collaboration came up, it took a split second to decide that this [would be the inspiration], because everything in the Kunqu is always the way I dress.
PS: How so?
CC: When I was going to [Parsons School of Design] in the '80s, people were always talking about minimalism: “when you’re done with your design, take that one last thing away.” I felt so awkward in this whole teaching method. I thought, “minimalism? . . . I’m definitely maxi.” There’s something about Kunqu that’s also very maximalistic and extreme — the makeup, the singing — and also, it’s very poetic.
![POPSUGAR: How did you come to collaborate with MAC?
Chris Chang: It’s a dream come true. I never thought that I would be applying my aesthetics to cosmetics. I have done colors and patterns all my life and I’ve used MAC since I was in college, so when [the brand] found me in China, it felt like the perfect fit.
It just felt like a getting together of kindred spirits that were all about colors and were inspired by daring, confident women — who dress for themselves, who do the makeup for themselves and not necessarily to be sexy or be pleasing to men. I really hope we find women around the world that won’t care about “what my boyfriend thinks” when wearing that blue lipstick, because it's all for ourselves.
PS: Do you remember what your first MAC product was?
CC: Lipstick! Yeah, because I’ve got these big gigantic lips that are so uncommon for the Chinese. I was taunted a lot as a child, and these lips didn’t become appealing or "on trend" until the last seven or eight years. But before that, it was something I was insecure about. That insecurity turned into the extreme. [Now] I want to play it up and I don’t care if people find it appealing or attractive.
PS: What’s the story behind the print on the packaging?
CC: This collection is called “Kunqu Madness,” and it's about giving something historical a futuristic spin. Kunqu is one of the oldest performance arts in China. [The performers] have really theatrical, colorful makeup and headdresses — everything is very elaborate. When the MAC collaboration came up, it took a split second to decide that this [would be the inspiration], because everything in the Kunqu is always the way I dress.
PS: How so?
CC: When I was going to [Parsons School of Design] in the '80s, people were always talking about minimalism: “when you’re done with your design, take that one last thing away.” I felt so awkward in this whole teaching method. I thought, “minimalism? . . . I’m definitely maxi.” There’s something about Kunqu that’s also very maximalistic and extreme — the makeup, the singing — and also, it’s very poetic.](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/i6QUANC8vQupgPyto1DW-x1FNQ4/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2016/04/21/751/n/1922153/aa217afe04778f7d_Chris-Chang-Poesia-MAC-Cosmetics-Collection/i/POPSUGAR-How-did-you-come-collaborate-MAC.jpg "POPSUGAR: How did you come to collaborate with MAC?
Chris Chang: It’s a dream come true. I never thought that I would be applying my aesthetics to cosmetics. I have done colors and patterns all my life and I’ve used MAC since I was in college, so when [the brand] found me in China, it felt like the perfect fit.
It just felt like a getting together of kindred spirits that were all about colors and were inspired by daring, confident women — who dress for themselves, who do the makeup for themselves and not necessarily to be sexy or be pleasing to men. I really hope we find women around the world that won’t care about “what my boyfriend thinks” when wearing that blue lipstick, because it's all for ourselves.
PS: Do you remember what your first MAC product was?
CC: Lipstick! Yeah, because I’ve got these big gigantic lips that are so uncommon for the Chinese. I was taunted a lot as a child, and these lips didn’t become appealing or \"on trend\" until the last seven or eight years. But before that, it was something I was insecure about. That insecurity turned into the extreme. [Now] I want to play it up and I don’t care if people find it appealing or attractive.
PS: What’s the story behind the print on the packaging?
CC: This collection is called “Kunqu Madness,” and it's about giving something historical a futuristic spin. Kunqu is one of the oldest performance arts in China. [The performers] have really theatrical, colorful makeup and headdresses — everything is very elaborate. When the MAC collaboration came up, it took a split second to decide that this [would be the inspiration], because everything in the Kunqu is always the way I dress.
PS: How so?
CC: When I was going to [Parsons School of Design] in the '80s, people were always talking about minimalism: “when you’re done with your design, take that one last thing away.” I felt so awkward in this whole teaching method. I thought, “minimalism? . . . I’m definitely maxi.” There’s something about Kunqu that’s also very maximalistic and extreme — the makeup, the singing — and also, it’s very poetic.")
