Chanel revives the legendary Rouge Noir

Chanel revives the legendary Rouge Noir

Chanel has just launched a complete make-up collection based on Rouge Noir, the shade that is neither red nor black, but both at the same time, created in 1994. A colour worn Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Isabelle Cerboneschi

Rouge Noir. This name appeals to both lovers of French literature and makeup fans, but not for the same reasons. Let’s leave Stendhal’s Rouge et Noir aside and focus on Chanel’s Rouge Noir.

The house has just launched an entire product line, designed by Ammy Drammeh, one of the three artists part of the Comètes Collective who create the Chanel make-up, based on this cult shade that was created in 1994.

Gabriel Chanel already mentioned this colour in Vogue US magazine in 1926: “Next to black and white comes red, the garnet shade, like the inside of a black cherry, which Chanel uses a lot and which is often called “red-black”. But this name, formed from two colours that are actually one, truly became a must-have in 1994.

At the time, the Chanel make-up design studio was in the hands of a talented duo: Heidi Morawetz and Dominique Moncourtois. Together, they designed some of Chanel’s most iconic make-up products, including the famous Rouge Noir nail polish.

The story behind its creation is quite extraordinary. But leave it to Heidi Morawetz herself to tell it in an interview she gave to Interview magazine in 2011.”I had seen a photograph in black-and-white, and in black-and-white, eyes and nails turns black. I thought maybe we should do something for the nails like that, and we did this black Rouge Noir in our kitchen, Dominique and myself. Don’t ask me how the quality was. (…) We did our pigments ourselves, and very often we did the mixing ourselves.”

This nail polish colour, concocted by hand, was created two days before the presentation of the autumn/winter 1994/95 collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld. ’The journalists saw it in the show, and they thought it was incredible. (…) The Americans did it right away because they could just put it on the counter. So it came out in America before it did here in Paris under the name Vamp.”

This powerful blend of dark red and black, which was also found inside the 2.55 bag presented at the same show, thrilled not only the press but also the stars. Uma Thurman wore this nail polish for her role in Pulp Fiction (1994), launching a trend that went viral.

In 2026, Rouge Noir, which never really left the shelves, makes a comeback in all its splendour, accompanied by a line of products.

Chanel entrusted Ammy Drammeh with the task of creating a range by introducing new shades that reveal the multiple nuances and facets of Rouge Noir, from the most luminous to the deepest: Baume Essentiel, the exclusive Confidence Eye Shadow Case, Noir Allure mascara in a beautiful garnet shade, and even make-up brushes in this amazing dark cherry colour.

Rouge Noir is perfectly timed for the start of 2026. It’s beautiful, it’s rock, it’s edgy, it’s legendary, it’s timeless… If desire had a colour, this would be the one.