Amber Basalaj’s partnership with New Zealand Fashion Week is catapulting her makeup brand.
Of all the people I’ve encountered in my lifetime, few have been quite as fabulous as Amber Basalaj.
While I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting her twice, each time she’s appeared in all her finery —
There’s so much going on that you don’t know where to look first — in the best way possible, of course.
It’s this larger-than-life presence that drove Amber to develop her eponymous makeup brand, one that inspires people from all walks of life to harness the same level of inner confidence and self-empowerment by way of makeup. She tells me this in between sips of green tea during our mid-morning interview, explaining she’s not a coffee drinker (lucky for her, I think she has enough energy as it is).
Basalaj Beauty [pronounced ba-sa-lay] soft launched in July last year, steadily gaining traction on Instagram and in real life, with a pop-up retail presence in Auckland’s Sylvia Park in late 2022.
But it’s Amber’s keen interest in fashion that catapulted the brand’s popularity and resulted in an ongoing partnership with Fashion For A Cure, which saw her fall in love with the backstage buzz.
Growing up, Amber says she often felt like the odd-one-out at school, but that didn’t stop her from turning up in the most outlandish outfits — tartan tights with a houndstooth skirt over the top was one of her go-to’s, along with what she calls “layers and layers of craziness”.
Amber says, “For me, fashion is a way to express myself and build confidence. I really don’t care what anybody else is thinking, if I love it and it makes me feel good.
“Fashion gave me a platform to be comfortable in who I am. As I got older, it became that much more important and I wanted to build a business around that.”
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.This formed the vision behind Basalaj Beauty — translating some of that confidence to a makeup-obsessed audience.
“It starts with fashion, it’s complemented by makeup and it’s layered with fragrance,” Amber laughs.
Now, Basalaj Beauty has been named the official beauty partner for New Zealand Fashion Week 2023, something Amber says is a dream realised.
“It was one of those pinch-me moments,” Amber says, almost levitating off the chair with excitement. “And since then it feels like the brand is out there that much more. Sometimes you don’t realise all the work you’re doing is connecting the dots until you hear about people recognising your brand or approaching you on the street.”
It was a case of right place, right time for Amber, who says the partnership is the result of a chance meeting with New Zealand Fashion Week general manager Yasmin Farry at Auckland’s Beauty Nation expo earlier this year.
“It’s funny, because we’ve always been running in the same circles for years but never actually met. The best thing about this partnership is that it was totally organic,” Amber says. “Yasmin came along to our stand on the second day and was like, ‘This is amazing!’”
Despite her propensity for fashion, this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week will be Amber’s first. An undoubtedly busy debut, Amber is set to lead a team of 20 artists (plus five makeup students from a local makeup school) across 19 shows she’s art directing during the week.
“Fashion has underpinned my entire life, along with beauty. So it’s perfect to be involved in something that speaks to both of my passions,” she says.
Under the watchful eye of Basalaj Beauty head makeup artist Lisa Matson, the team will be flexing their creativity at Kharl Wirepa’s Evening Couture and Tangaroa Te Ihi Moana (The Sea is Rising) shows.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.“We’ve partnered with Kharl this year and I’m super-excited about his two shows,” Amber says. “One is set to be an amazing fashion show, and the other will really push the boundaries from a cosmetic perspective. Lisa has been creating the looks with me, along with Kharl’s input. They’re really exciting looks — he loves them.”
Elsewhere at the Viaduct Events Centre, Amber’s team will be supporting up-and-coming designers at ensemble shows like the Viva Next Gen show, which takes place on August 31 at 10am.
Eager to reflect the garments unique to each designer’s collection, Amber and her team have created myriad looks to grace the runway in a single show.
“Some looks might be slightly similar, but ultimately each designer has a different look. There’s a lot of technique involved with taking a neutral look and building it up or changing it with a few tweaks from one designer to the next to make it look quite different,” Amber says. “I’m confident in my team that we’ll be able to do an amazing job.”
When they’re not making magic backstage, Amber and her team will be sharing her products with eager Fashion Week attendees at the Basalaj Beauty activation, located inside the Viaduct Events Centre.
Guests will be able to test drive products they’ve seen on the runway or enjoy mini makeovers between shows.
“So often you see these incredible makeup looks come down the runway, and you’re unsure which products to use to get the look. It’s really nice to be able to have the products there for people to come and try them and experience the textures themselves,” Amber says.
The activation will be hard to miss in the brand’s signature red and black quilted design, one that was dreamed up by Amber’s son Jayedan, proving the packaging of each product is as much a spectacle as the brightly hued formulas within.
Basalaj’s debut collection, named 1985 after the year Amber was born, extends to three highlighters, six lipstick shades and an 18-pan eyeshadow palette in matte, chrome and shimmer finishes.
Each product is bestowed with a name to impart on the wearer — with lipsticks named Rebel and Boss, and eyeshadows called Maverick, Audacious and Fierce.
Add to cart
Available from selected independent retailers or online at Basalajbeauty.com
