There inevitably comes a time in a celebrity’s life when they look around and think: “you know what the world needs? Another beauty brand.” Following in the footsteps of almost every female star before him, this week Brad Pitt launched an prohibitively expensive skincare line. That’s right: the manic, sexy posterboy of the Nineties, has officially entered his wellness phase.
Le Domaine is what he (or his marketing team) describes as science-meets-nature genderless skincare essentials. The Serum is £290 and The Cream is £240. Made from grape varieties found on his Chateau Miraval estate in Provence, the organic, vegan and earnest nature of the products feel a little, well, Goopy — and Pitt isn’t shy about where he got his inspiration.“I love what Gwyneth’s done [with Goop]. She is still a really dear friend and she has built this empire. In fact, come to think about it, she was probably the first one who got me to even wash my face twice a day.”
Yet there is more to the re-brand of Brad (re-Brad?) — who is still in the throes of a messy divorce from Angelina Jolie — than super-serums and fluid creams. It began earlier this month when the 58-year-old announced his luxury cashmere company God’s True Cashmere (shirts cost £1,800 a pop) — which he founded with close friend and self-described “holistic healer” Sat Hari — would be hitting the shelves of London’s Selfridges, the label’s first big department store. A few weeks before that, as if to flex his newly acquired sartorial mettle, Pitt made headlines for showing off his particularly lovely calves in a brown linen skirt at the Bullet Train premiere in Berlin.
There’s more. This week, the actor turned tortured artiste debuted nine sculptures as part of a joint exhibition with cult dark rock star Nick Cave at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland. Pitt, acknowledging his renaissance, described the artwork as “self-reflection”. Adding, “It’s about, you know, where have I gotten it wrong in my relationships? Where have I misstepped? Where I am complicit?” He previously described his new hobby as “getting to feel emotion at my fingertips.” The sculptures have been met with a widespread reception of pleasant surprise.
But the transition from posterboy era one to posterboy era two was not seamless for Pitt. The 2010s chewed him up and spat him out. The decade saw the start of his messy divorce from Jolie, the second wave of controversy for a couple who seemed almost cursed from the start (see: Jennifer Aniston love triangle), proceedings for which are still ongoing. Then in 2017, Pitt admitted to having issues with alcoholism, saying that he had to give up drinking after it “became a problem”, and that he was “running from his feelings”.
Five years on and Pitt appears as if reborn. Curiously fresh-faced (his unageing handsomeness is surely the only advert needed for this new skincare line), he’s moving with the times — trading in bleached tips and tabloid headlines for cashmere sweaters and beauty articles in Vogue.
Of course, Pitt is not reinventing the wheel by turning his attention to wholesome and ultra-lucrative (the wellness industry is said to be worth $4.5 trillion globally) business ventures in a later and more stable phase of life. Renowned party legend Kate Moss also entered the saturated world of wellness this year with the launch of Cosmoss, which flogs herbal teas and mystic sprays. “I don’t consider myself a health and wellness guru but I just know what works for me,” says the supermodel and creative director of Diet Coke.
Pitt’s first ex-wife Aniston recently began her “beyond-the-bond” haircare brand LolaVie and even Travis Barker, husband of Kourtney Kardashian Barker, has put his name to a wellness line called Barker Wellness, complete with a capsule collection of five skincare products including a cleanser, serum and eye serum.
But that’s not to say that his new wellness pursuits mean Pitt’s shunned the film industry entirely: he’s starring in this year’s heavily hyped Damien Chazelle flick Babylon, alongside Margot Robbie and Olivia Wilde, and has lent his producer chops to this season’s film festival favourite, Women Talking, starring Claire Foy and Frances McDormand.
The star is firing on all cylinders, rebranding one creative effort at a time — and it doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty damn good at it.
