“I started wearing make-up when I was about eight,” Griff shares with Dazed Beauty. Growing up in Kings Langley, a small town outside of Watford, the half-Chinese, half-Jamaican singer found it hard to fit in. “Growing up as a person of colour in an all white area meant for a long time I didn’t see a lot of my features as very beautiful. So I leaned on make-up a lot from a young age, I guess to compensate for what I thought I didn’t have but other girls did.”
Since then, however, the 19-year-old’s relationship with beauty has shifted as she has grown into herself and embraced her individuality. With her signature oversized bubble ponytail, mallen streaks, and winged eyeliner, it’s clear she has embraced beauty as a vehicle for creative expression rather than conformity.
Last year, Griff released her debut EP, The Mirror Talk, an intimate record full of lush R&B vocals that details the trials and tribulations of young adulthood. Now, she collaborates with make-up artist Thom Walker and multimedia artist Brian Vu, whose fantastical touch brings colour and impact to everything he works on. The result is a series of vibrant, playful images brimming with life that celebrate Chanel Beauty and shakes up the singer’s beloved winged eyeliner, offering fresh new takes on the classic – something Chanel has been doing since the beginning.
“Chanel liberated women from tight corsets in the 20s and introduced casual wear and the little black dress,” says Griff. “Chanel has always really truly empowered women. My boyfriend’s mum only wears Chanel make-up and I think that’s because wearing Chanel makes women feel automatically classy and timeless.”
