M•A•C x sephora
M•A•C x
SEPHORA
Experiential Conception, Development, Design, ExecutionLaunch party celebrating the arrival of M•A•C Cosmetics at Sephora North America.
THE UMBRELLA was engaged by M·A·C Cosmetics to concept, develop, & produce a launch party celebrating their long awaited arrival at Sephora throughout North America.
Working with esteemed production designer, Sayoko Osada, we developed a concept of two parallel roads converging into one. We realized this vision by recreating a 90s NYC streetscape complete with billboards, a newsstand, a custom payphone product dispenser, four period specific cars & much more.
Guests were transported to a nostalgic fantasy of NYC as they explored the space, following the road to dozens of curated UGC moments, a live performance by Boy Harsher, and customized NYC delicacies like elevated hot dogs, pretzels, & pizza.
Guests entered through a wheat pasted facade, through a custom aluminum M•A•C x SEPHORA billboard step & repeat, and made their way down the converging roads into the the main spaces. Custom fabricated billboards provided both ambiance and photo ops as they explored the space.
The venue, a former early 20th century taxi garage, was chosen specifically for the theme, allowing us to create the most convincing scenic execution including utilizing real cars for key guest photo-moments.
The Payphone
A custom payphone booth was fabricated as an innovative product dispenser. When guests passed the phone booth, an operator would ring the phone. When guests answered the phone, the operator prompted them to choose one of three product options by pressing buttons 1 through 3.
After guests pressed their button, an operator would place their product into a hidden compartment beneath the payphone and slide the drawer out to the guests to retrieve the product. This moment quickly became a guest favorite and a photo-op hotspot.
As guests followed the road and turned the corner, they discovered another hero photo moment, a vintage black Mercedes convertible decked out with Sephora shopping bags and product to produce their own “Car Haul” content.
We also fabricated human sized M•A•C & Sephora shopping bags that guests used as highly viral photo props.
The M•A•C Press Newsstand
We designed and fabricated a full-scale NYC Newsstand to serve as a product discovery moment to sample three lip kits by the M•A•C x Sephora campaign brand ambassadors, Chappell Roan, Gabriette, & Quen Blackwell. Staffed by a M•A•C makeup artist, guests sampled and selected their favorite lip combo to take as a giftbag.
The Billboards
We fabricated five full-sized billboards to immerse guests in the theme and campaign imagery for the wider M•A•C x Sephora launch campaign. These massive canvases created the uncanny feeling that guests were on an NYC street taken over by M•A•C & Sephora.
The Cars
In the main performance space, we brought in another three cars for three distinct photo ops.
A guest favorite was our 80s era NYC taxi, customized with a M•A•C x Sephora topper.
We also had a vintage Alfa Romeo decked out with custom inflatable lipsticks & a classic Corvette convertible decked out with stacks of the custom M•A•C Newspapers.
All three cars were magnets for User Generated Content throughout the event.
The Stage
A custom built stage & digital billboard screen engaged guests throughout the event. As guests arrived, the billboard played ads adapted from the campaign creative. As the night evolved, we began live VJing theme-specific clips of vintage NYC skyline, highway footage & more.
The climax of the night was a live set by Boy Harsher on the main stage making the event feel like a street party with a live band. We activated dynamic stage lighting and worked with them to hijack the digital billboard and turn it into a video surface for their live set.
To complete the theme across all the senses, we brought in a full bar & catered the event with NYC native specialties. We served elevated ‘pigs in a blanket’ via a real NYC hotdog stand & classic pretzels via a customized pretzel stand.
Nichola Formecetti’s favorite: Joe’s Pizza was brought in and served at a customized pizza station with branded plates & napkins.
When
February, 2026
Where
New York City
Client
Estée Lauder Companies / M•A•C Cosmetics
Creative Agency & Production
THE UMBRELLA
Concept & Production Design
Sayoko Osada for THE UMBRELLA
Photography
BFA — Brendon Cook
BFA — Jason Crowley
Charle Roussel
GP Selvaggio
Michael Yu
Videography
Lucas Asensi
Services
Creative Direction
Project & Event Management
Event Production
Location Scouting
Print & Graphics
Technical Direction
Content Capture & Post-Production
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