P&G teams with Dolce & Gabbana for luxury make-up

MODELS at the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show recently drew stares with their see-through dresses, leather-ruffled stockings and wedge-heeled shoes. Another risky look on the runway was Dahlia, a deep crimson lip colour that the Milanese brand has been developing for two years with Procter & Gamble.

The fashion house that parlayed provocative clothes and advertising into a luxury goods business worth more than $US2 billion ($3 billion) now wants to seduce American women with makeup.

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana next month will launch a line of luxury cosmetics at Saks Fifth Avenue. It includes $US59 foundation, $US30 lipstick and $US44 rouge in gold-toned packaging.

Dolce & Gabbana The Makeup marks P&G's first foray into upscale cosmetics, a huge jump from its drugstore CoverGirl and Max Factor brands. The move is an extension of a partnership forged three years ago to produce fragrances. But it comes at a time when luxury stores are suffering some of the biggest sales declines in all of retailing.

In a recent interview in his Milan studio that was closely supervised by former Dolce & Gabbana chief executive Gabriella Forte, who is now a consultant, Mr Gabbana cast the foray into cosmetics as democratising its brand. “It is for the rich and not rich,” young and old, said the buff 46-year-old designer.