Amanda Gorman’s new video for Esteé Lauder isn’t just about helping you find your perfecting foundation — it’s working overtime to boost your confidence.
The 23-year-old poet’s first-ever campaign for the brand focuses on Double Wear foundation, a fan-favorite, long lasting complexion product with a matte finish. So while Gorman puts her (flawless!!) skin on full display in the clip, she also makes a point to offer up a powerful message.
“I am a changemaker, a poet, who finds inspiration in history, in passion, in the confidence it takes to face forward and change the world,” she says in the clip, which was filmed by Cass Bird. “Confidence inspires change.”
Gorman, who was tapped as the brand’s first-ever global changemaker in September 2021, took to Instagram to tell her 3.8 million follows “how proud” she was of the campaign.
“I remember my mom and I both using this product for the first time and looking at each other with our eyes lighting up, feeling like we finally arrived at a product that worked so well,” she reflected in her caption. “It was important for me to work with a female-founded company run by a majority female workforce, all while working together on a $3M initiative for women’s literacy globally. I’m so excited to see what else we can accomplish together!”
Shortly after sharing the news, a slew of celebs jumped into the comments section. Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor said, “Wow WOW,” while Cynthia Erivo wrote, “Beautiful.” Rachel Brosnahan chimed in: “Yep. Stunning.” Other stars to share their congratulations included Daniel Levy, Sofia Carson and Camila Cabello.
Gorman accepted her position with Esteé Lauder with the intention of doing more with the brand than simply modeling their latest launches. “I knew that if I was going to engage with a brand, I wanted to do it in a way that felt authentic to me,” she said in a February interview with Allure. “I didn’t want to be constrained into the boilerplate ambassadorial relationship. I’m more than just a face.”
She continued: “I think we can model a new type of relationship, one in which the women who engage in these beauty brand partnerships actually have agency, power that expands beyond themselves. Power that pays itself forward.”
Gorman has also made a point to make statements — about politics, history and culture — through her beauty looks. At the Met Gala for example, she wore a laurel crown to represent her experience as a laureate. The poet also told Allure that her decision to wear her hair in an updo for the inauguration was intended to make a “powerful statement” about African American culture.
“I tried to play with having my hair go upwards, which, I think, is really a hallmark of Black hair,” she said. “Everything about me, even my hair, my body and my spirit is about defying gravity.”
