“XIII” (thirteen) is a lipstick capsule collection that I developed in November 2022. When thinking about celebrity cosmetics brands, nearly all of today’s female mega-stars have a presence on the shelves except one extremely notable name: Taylor Swift. This concept was the catalyst for my brainstorming about how Swift would approach her own line, and both her style and her lyrics served as the primary inspiration.

If Taylor Swift is known for one thing, it’s her songwriting. It doesn’t take a big fan to know that Swift is a lyrical mastermind and has a particular affinity for using color as a major theme within her songs – having a full album entitled “Red.” Color-synesthesia (the association of colors with emotions) is a major through-line of her expansive discography, and also heavily influenced my designs. Taylor’s classic, red lipstick makeup look is one of the trademarks of her personal brand, so I chose to create a lipstick line made up of a symbolic 13 shades (her infamous favorite number). Each shade name will coincide with a particular lyric about the color itself, including those such as “red lip classic”, “ultraviolet morning light,” “burgundy on your t-shirt,”“purple-pink sky,” “lavender haze,” etc.