Introducing the Collection

Posters

1925 Yabe Sue

This poster is representative of the flowing, elegant curvatures of Art Nouveau, which set the tone for much of Shiseido's design.
1925 Yabe Sue

Elements of Art Deco were added to the Art Nouveau influences to create Shiseido's modern design aesthetic.
1926 Kawashima Riichiro

Shiseido was always conscious of the West. Posters like this one displayed in shops played an important role in establishing the company's distinct image throughout Japan.

1926 Sawa Reika

This nighttime snow scene with a woman wearing a luxurious coat is a good example of the posters Shiseido distributed monthly to present a sense of season.
c.1928

In this rare scene, a woman dressed in Western clothing influenced by the distinctive curvatures of late 19th century Art Nouveau is standing with another dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. Do we detect a rivalry of style and beauty?
1930 Maeda Mitsugu

This poster is by Maeda Mitsugu, the designer who helped integrate arabesque patterning into the Shiseido look. Though a typical Art Deco design, it was groundbreaking for its innovative disruption of the usual balance of vertical and horizontal lines.

1933 Maeda Mitsugu

This innovative poster highlighted the elements of lip coloring and rouge by placing them against a monotone background. The artist's depiction of white lines on a black background and the woman's gestures express a distinctly chic, modern beauty aesthetic.
1937 Yamana Ayao

Images of women like this one were often the work of Yamana Ayao, a Shiseido designer noted for his explorations of feminine beauty through the medium of illustration.
1938 Yamamoto Takeo

This poster is from the period around the 1930s when Shiseido's chain stores began using display windows. The Shiseido designers from this period were successful in creating images of feminine beauty that anticipated the changing times, and contributed greatly to bolstering the Shiseido image.

1955 Yamana Ayao

The use of color in this poster was unusual for designer Yamana Ayao. This innovative design combined the dignified profile of the woman's profile with interlocking three-color pastels to imbue the image with an arabesque dynamism.
1960 Yamana Ayao

This poster integrates the arabesque patterning distinct to the Shiseido design style with delicately drawn lines to create a female image that is lithe and light.
1961 Mizuno Takashi

This poster is from Shiseido's first campaign-style promotion, for “Candy Tone,” which embraced the trend at that time of naming fashionable colors after foods. This campaign was instrumental in helping to fill out Shiseido's line of makeup products.

1966 Maeda Bibari
(Photo by Yokosuka Noriaki)

The beautifully suntanned skin and unwavering gaze of model Maeda Bibari in this bold pose made a major impact at the time, so much so that this poster was often carried off from the shops displaying it.
1968 Dan Jiro
(Photo by Adachi Yojiro)

This poster features an animal rare at the time in the supporting role. The product on display, “MG5,” was named for the phrase “modern gentleman,” and has long remained popular among men's cosmetics.
1976 Shingyoji Kimie
(Photo by Jumonji Bishin)

Singer-songwriter Ogura Kei's “Wavering Gaze” used in this commercial became a major hit, making this advertisement a herald of future advertisements using image songs in television commercials. Here the fifteen year-old Shingyoji Kimie successfully models the beauty of feminine ambiguity and the complexly wavering female heart.

1978 Yamaguchi Sayoko
(Photo by Yokosuka Noriaki)

The extreme closeup of a single eye gives this image great power to stir the imagination. The model's bobbed hair, almond-shaped eyes, and illusory gaze offer a sense of Asian, Japanese beauty.
1979 Yamana Ayao

In this late illustration by Yamana Ayao, the artist continues his exploration of arabesque motifs to create an ultimate fusion of these swirling patterns with feminine beauty. This image expresses an eternal feminine beauty marked by refined elegance and flowing over with graceful dignity.
1979 Ono Miyuki
(Photo by Kuru Sachiko)

The first dual-type foundation, usable wet or dry, was a major hit when it was released. The song used in the television commercial advertising it was also quite popular, and it was in that connection that this poster featuring Ono Yuki also became well known.

1983 Baisho Mitsuko
(Photo by Yokosuka Noriaki)

The title of this poster, Ms. Nippon, highlighted the use of the honorific “Ms.” for its marriage status neutrality. Included in the underlying message was a sense of support for the attractive, energetic women from the baby boomer generation.
1985
Photo by Akimoto Shigeru

The backlighting of the products in this photo brings them a sense of floating lightness and transparency, and their beauty is reinforced by a collage-style arrangement. The astringent image speaks to a masculine presence and a sense of inner worlds revealing itself from stillness.
1988 Imai Miki
(Photo by Handa Yasushi)

This poster of Imai Miki with her mouth open in a wide, lively smile was probably the first of its kind ever made in Japan, an image very clearly expressing a vivacious, lively female vigor in no uncertain terms.

2008 Takahashi Mariko

This poster was designed to highlight the traditional “fair complexion” Japanese beauty concept. The model's translucent skin and black hair offer a marked contrast, augmented by the impression made by her clear, cool eyes gazing off into space.
2008 Ebihara Yuri
(Photo by K. Ogata)

This poster had a similar impact to the one from forty-two years earlier showing Maeda Bibari. Here model Ebihara shows a bit of uncharacteristic wildness, the blue ocean and sky stretching out endlessly behind her.