Fashion and beauty cross-category drop with Smashbox
MONOCHROME, a fashion brand built on architectural silhouettes and a black-and-white aesthetic, partnered with Smashbox, an LA cosmetics brand born in a Hollywood photo studio. Encore led the negotiations, shaped the collaboration concept and created the communication strategy for the drop.
The brief
Merge two industries with different communication rules, keep MONOCHROME's minimalist DNA inside a visually expressive beauty category, introduce Smashbox to a new cultural segment through a fashion-first lens, make the collaboration feel natural rather than forced, and build credibility and demand through PR and community buzz.
What we did
- Led the full negotiation and partnership process, aligning both brands on creative direction, product selection, shared values, launch angles, marketing rights and usage, deliverables and timelines.
- Built the conceptual framework around the idea "Minimalism meets camera-ready performance", blending MONOCHROME's black-and-white universe with Smashbox's beauty ethos through contrast, clarity and texture.
- Developed the collaboration narrative, press language, campaign messaging, influencer communication scripts and creative references and guidelines.
- Designed the PR and influencer communication strategy around editorial-style visuals, behind-the-scenes insights and social-first formats, prioritising fashion-forward creatives and micro-creators with a strong narrative style.
- Activated organic buzz through cross-pollination between beauty and fashion audiences and user-generated content shot in minimalist, studio-like environments that referenced Smashbox's origin story.
Scope
- Partnership negotiation
- Collaboration concept development
- Communication strategy
- Storytelling and messaging
- PR
- Influencer strategy
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