- YSL Beauty has named Charli XCX a US Local Ambassador, joining Amelia Gray, Lila Moss, and Laura Harrier, making this the brand's first-ever official collaboration with the artist, though the two have worked together informally for months.
- The four-act campaign, shot by director Renell Medrano and anchored by the brand's new Skin Affair Soft Glow Cushion Foundation, launched May 20, 2026, the same day as Charli's new single "Rock Music."
- YSL Beauty has a strong track record of pairing music and culture icons with its makeup launches: past ambassadors include Dua Lipa (Global Makeup Ambassador, 2024) and Zoë Kravitz (Global Ambassador since 2017).
- For Charli XCX, this adds to a busy 2026 brand portfolio that already includes deals with tech company Nothing and prebiotic soda brand Poppi.
YSL Beauty has tapped Charli XCX as its newest US Local Ambassador, marking the official launch of a creative relationship months in the making.
The campaign, directed by Renell Medrano with makeup by Global Makeup Artist Sam Visser, follows Charli through four “acts of artistic becoming” inside a music venue, from a dressing room moment of raw self-reflection to a full cinematic reveal on a rooftop.
At the center of the campaign is the brand’s new Skin Affair Soft Glow Cushion Foundation, its first-ever couture cushion foundation clutch in the US.
The partnership goes live alongside Charli’s new track “Rock Music,” the first single from her follow-up to 2024’s Grammy-winning Brat, making the timing a deliberate cultural double-drop.
This isn’t Charli XCX’s only big brand move this month. Earlier in May, she became the first Global Brand Ambassador and shareholder for tech company Nothing, a deal that also launched alongside “Rock Music.”
Before that, she starred in Poppi’s 2026 Super Bowl campaign alongside Rachel Sennott, continuing a pattern of high-visibility brand placements that began with her Acne Studios Spring/Summer 2025 campaign.
For YSL Beauty, the appointment builds on a well-established playbook of anchoring makeup launches to music’s biggest names. The brand previously named Dua Lipa its Global Makeup Ambassador in 2024 for the Loveshine collection, and has worked with Zoë Kravitz since 2017. Other past ambassadors have included Lil Nas X, Austin Butler, Troye Sivan, Kaia Gerber, and Indya Moore.
Takeaways
This deal is a textbook example of what happens when cultural momentum and brand timing click perfectly.
Charli XCX is arguably the most brand-hot artist in the world right now, and YSL Beauty clearly positioned this campaign to ride the “Rock Music” news cycle, not compete with it. Launching both on the same day wasn’t a coincidence; it was a coordinated cultural statement.
For the brand, bringing in an artist known for blurring the lines between music, fashion, and identity is a direct play for younger luxury beauty consumers who don’t respond to traditional glamour. And for Charli, the YSL stamp adds prestige to a brand portfolio that’s already stacking up fast in 2026.
YSL Beauty gave Charli a US Local Ambassador title, not a Global one like Dua Lipa received, could this partnership grow into something bigger? The campaign ties directly to a product launch (Skin Affair Soft Glow Cushion Foundation), does attaching celebrity partnerships to specific products drive more sales than general ambassador deals?
