Written By: William Buckley
From Antwerp to Avenue Montaigne, Dior's Creative and Image Director Peter Philips has spent two decades shaping how the world wears makeup, and why it maters. Now speaking to Sorbet...
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
Peter Philips is one of fashion’s most influential quiet forces. As Creative and Image Director of Dior Makeup since 2014, he’s guided the House’s beauty vision with the same precision and instinct for modernity that made him a legend backstage, long before he took the reins at Dior.
A graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Philips began his career in the 1990s, working with photographers such as Inez & Vinoodh and Willy Vanderperre, and soon became the backstage secret weapon of designers from Raf Simons to Karl Lagerfeld. As Chanel’s global creative director for makeup, and later at Dior, he helped redefine what beauty could look like: fresh, cerebral, quietly radical.
At Dior, Philips sits at the intersection of heritage and innovation. His portfolio covers everything from product conception to runway aesthetics, from overseeing labs to leading creative campaigns. He’s the rare figure who can discuss polymer chemistry and pigment payoff with the same fluency he brings to a couture fitting. The result is a line of products that feel as considered as the clothes they accompany – Rouge Dior, Lip Glow, Rosy Glow, and the cult Backstage range have all become modern beauty benchmarks on his watch.
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
Philips’ approach is practical, even pragmatic, beneath the glamor. He talks about texture, tone, and ease of use before buzzwords or hashtags. His references come as much from fine art and street culture as from the Dior archives.
In person, his warmth is disarming – you might expect someone at the top of his game at one of the biggest French luxury fashion houses to be a little more distant, but Peter’s always such fun company, and when you hear anyone mention him – from colleagues to fellow designers or models – they all speak of him with a familial tone. So, of course when Dior sent a selection of stunning imagery from a recent in-House shoot with Deva Cassel and Sharon Alexie, we wanted a word.
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
WILLIAM BUCKLEY: You’ve just dropped Rouge Dior On Stage – what are you hoping people feel?
PETER PHILIPS: I want them to feel beautiful, empowered, special… This Rouge Dior On Stage lipstick is a true gem, a caring, buttery texture with a rich pigmented makeup result and a high-shine finish.
The formula is the result of long research and many tests, I hope that all the work that we put into this lipstick will radiate through the women that wear one of the shades.
WB: We have this beautiful shoot you created; can you tell me about it?
PP: This shoot inspired me to glorify the beauty of these two wonderful women and to glorify the beauty of our products. This shoot is a celebration.
WB: The updated Rosy Glow Stick and Lip Glow Butter are wow. Tell me about them.
FK: Our Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick is a beautiful, lightweight stick blush, you can apply it on bare skin or with your foundation. It blends in seamlessly and gives a lovely color of radiance.
You can also combine this creamy formula with our classic Dior Backstage Rosy Glow powders, for a more intense and blurry makeup result. The Dior Addict Lip Glow Butter is the cutest of lip balms, the softest texture, giving you extreme hydration.
WB: You’ve said your personal taste sneaks into your work. What are some of the most ‘Peter Philips’ details hidden in a recent Dior launch?
PP: Every product we launch has something of me. My personal taste is about easy, non-intimidating beauty products. Products that will seduce you into trying them out. The shades, formula or packaging are what makes a product desirable.
When people come to a Dior counter, they know they will find something to their liking, because they are created to be worn, not to be put on a shelf. That’s what I try to bring into every launch.
WB: You’ve reimagined icons like Rouge Dior so many times. How do you evolve a classic without offending the die-hard fans who love the old formulas?
PP: Whenever we launch or relaunch, it’s important to think respectfully about your clients, and anticipate respectfully what your potential clients would like. It’s always a balance act, moving forward on a line with elegance and grace, with innovation and creativity.
WB: Dior’s Middle East audience loves glamor. How much does regional feedback shape what you create globally?
PP: For me it’s key to be at the service of all regions. Women in the Middle East have different beauty expectations than, for example, women in Japan. My mission is to create products where women all over the world can find what they need. Dior and glamor go hand in hand, but we also build a strong expertise in simple nude products.
One of the many facets of the Dior woman is that she is not afraid to express her love for luxury and creativity, and we create the products that can complete this vision.
WB: What’s the process when you’re planning the looks for each collection?
PP: The planning starts very rational, analyzing the logistics of a collection, formula, pack, amount of products etc. Once this plan is drawn, it’s a creative process, combined with a realistic analysis of what women need. Most of the time I already start thinking of a campaign theme during the creative process.
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
WB: You bounce between couture runways and product labs. Which side of that split do you relish the most and why?
PP: Well, I bounce between women’s and men’s shows, product development and labs, campaign shoots and editorial shoots, packaging and advertisement meetings, training seminars with our marvelous teams, press and influencer launches, etc and, to be honest, I like all of it. All of it is teamwork and we have fabulous teams; that’s what makes it all possible.
WB: Are you ever apprehensive about how things will be received?
PP: You can’t please everyone, but we do our best. And as long as our products are of good quality and the claims are true, I have no reason to be worried.
WB: Of everything you’ve launched lately, what’s your ‘if you only knew what it took to make this happen’ story?
PP: There’s a story behind every product, that’s part of the process. The Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick has been in the making for about six years, if not more. When I first pitched the idea, not everyone internally was evenly enthusiastic, so I started launching them in limited editions in the Color Collections (some in summer, some in fall).
I shifted my attention towards the launch of a stick foundation, and when this turned out to be a successful launch, it was suddenly easier to bring the concept of the Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Sticks back. Just one of many battles. It’s important to have patience and don’t give up, knowing when to push and knowing when to hold back.
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
WB: With the makeup, there’s the packaging, the luxuriousness, the fun, the artistic creativity, and there’s the science and the formulas. Do you geek out about both equally?
PP: All of this has to go hand in hand, there’s no doubt about it. A packaging can make an already good product even more desirable. Packaging can also make your product more fashionable, even collectible.
WB: Have you had any recent real-world feedback, maybe from a friend or a model, that actually changed how you tweaked a product?
PP: The best feedback we get is from our counter staff, who are in direct contact with the client. Our Dior makeup artists give the best tips and when Willow, Anya or Jenna, for example, say something, I’m definitely listening.
WB: How do you feel about the explosion of beauty among younger generations, particularly on social media?
PP: It’s an impressive phenomenon, very humbling and very exciting. These young kids are experts, and they play with makeup, love makeup and experiment with makeup.
Makeup creates communities, people share experiences, they make makeup accessible – it isn’t just for a fortunate elite anymore. I think it’s a great thing, but, like with everything fun and great, it’s always important to find the right balance. Excess is never good.
WB: You’re part of the drive towards the future of beauty. What trend are you betting on for 2026 that no one else is talking about yet? What about longer-term?
PP: The biggest trend in makeup is the concept of makeup itself. This is something people seldom take about, because people are mainly focused on individual trends in the world of makeup. But the concept of makeup, in whatever shape or shade, is the biggest trend.
WB: What’s your favorite flavor of sorbet?
PP: Strawberry.
Courtesy of Dior Beauty
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