Google, Pat McGrath Labs Unveil AR Pop-up
Pat McGrath Labs is looking to new technological frontiers for its latest pop-up.
The brand, founded by makeup artist Pat McGrath, is teaming with Google for “The Art of Beauty,” a three-day pop-up featuring AR try-on technology. Attendees can book a makeup session with a makeup artist from the brand and participate in product giveaways. It will take place at 101 7th Avenue, a space formerly inhabited by Barneys New York, from Oct. 20 to Oct. 22 with no charge for tickets.
More from WWD
“We felt it was time for something more interactive, and to play a little bit more in tech,” McGrath said. “I love to connect with my customers and the people who love the brand, but to push technology in beauty is new and exciting for us to do.”
McGrath said the pop-up will “increase brand awareness and boost brand loyalty,” adding that the experience will encourage product trial. “Google’s AR lets people live their makeup fantasy right from their phones,” she said. “It pushes you and introduces you to color in such an easy way, and it helps you to play with color with no fear. You can try on daring colors and it will help you and introduce you to makeup.”
It’s also a great opportunity for McGrath to tell the brand’s history, including her own storied career, she said. “It helps a customer understand the brand history to see the past, look at fantastic editorial and runway images,” she said of the space. “We’re going to have a lot of experiences for them to play around with, and our team will be there and we’ll be able to put makeup on them, too. They will go through the whole journey.”
Pat McGrath Labs is the latest to join Google’s AR try-on efforts. The beauty shopping tool debuted in 2020. “This pop-up celebrates the integration of innovation,” said Stephanie Horton, senior director of commerce marketing at Google. “Pat is the latest of 50 brands that we will have this available for, but we thought she would be the best person to bring this into the public scope.”
It’s part of a larger effort on Google’s behalf to make shopping for beauty online even easier. “Even though there is a return to store, some traffic that came online has stayed online,” Horton said. “Cosmetics brands are really visual, and now, you’re going to get the clarity of what it would look like and one of the things that we’ve done is add a library of 148 models, so you can try a shade on a model who resonates with you.”
The brand is on an “amazing trajectory, with lots of growth and lots of innovation,” McGrath said, noting that her value proposition is resonating.
“Labs is driven by my commitment to quality and the pursuit in enjoying makeup from a personal point of view, as well as an artistic point of view,” she continued. “Labs is a celebration of high performance and incredible ingredients and formulas. Everyone who’s a fan appreciates that.”
McGrath is known to look outside of beauty for collaborations. On the product front, she’s previously teamed with Supreme, “Bridgerton” and “Star Wars.”
“It felt like the perfect partnership,” McGrath said. “Pop-ups and experiences are a great way to push into technological innovation.”
Best of WWD