Brad Pitt’s many faces: Actor, sculptor and now, owner of a cosmetic brand

Brad Pitt has combined two of life’s greatest pleasures – wine and skincare – in a single product. In an interview with Vogue magazine on Wednesday, the actor announced the launch of his gender-neutral skincare line, Le Domaine. Pitt joins a long list of celebrities who have started their own cosmetics brands in recent years (Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles...). However, the Hollywood star’s patented product line is unique in that it is made from grapes grown in Pitt’s own vineyard in France, Château Beaucastel.

“Le Domaine is not meant to be a celebrity brand,” Pitt explained in a press release. “It is an anti-aging cosmetics range for men and women. I love the idea of a genderless line,” he added. The actor has made it clear that he is not offering the typical Hollywood-centric brand. The line features subtle products for both genders. “I don’t know if it’s just that I believe in being all-inclusive as much as possible? Or maybe it’s about us guys needing help from others in understanding how we can treat our skin better... We kept the smell very neutral, very fresh, and very, very subtle.”  Pitt also emphasized that Le Domaine is a sustainable line; products are sold in refillable bottles with caps made from wine barrels, as he explained to Vogue.

Pitt is not the first celebrity to launch a beauty line and he won’t be the last. Dozens of celebrities have put their names or faces on cosmetics brands. Some of them simply attach their image to the products, while others test the ingredients or go to the lab to check out the manufacturing process. In November, Harry Styles launched a range of gender-neutral products called Pleasing; in June 2022, Hailey Bieber introduced her Rhode Skin products; Rihanna has found success with her Fenty Beauty brand, and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty has prospered as well. And, of course, there’s Kim Kardashian and her sister Kylie Jenner, who expanded her cosmetics and skincare brand in 2019.

Unlike other celebrities, Pitt has decided not to be the face of Le Domaine; he won’t appear in advertising campaigns or do interviews to sell the products. In his interview with Vogue, the actor acknowledges that the beauty industry is already “saturated,” but he explains that, in the process of developing his brand’s products, he noticed a “difference” in his skin as a result of the antioxidants in the grape-derived cosmetics. His vineyard is a multimillion-dollar business that exports rosé wine all over the world, and none of the harvest goes to waste: “Anything left over or discarded becomes food for something else. This exemplary circular system is the inspiration for Le Domaine.” The new products cost between $80 and $385; they are now available for purchase on Le Domaine’s website.

Pitt has a special attachment to the vineyard and the products derived from it. In 2008, he and his then-partner Angelina Jolie acquired majority ownership of the property, and the couple got married there in 2014. Since their separation in 2016, the former couple has been engaged in an ongoing battle over the vineyard. In July 2021, the actress accused him of blocking the sale of Château Miraval, and in February 2022 Pitt sued Jolie for selling her shares of the property to Russian businessman Yuri Shefler without notice, despite their agreement not to sell shares without the other’s permission.

The actor has had a busy week. On Monday, he announced that he contributed nine works to a Finnish art exhibition. Pitt began working on the sculptures after his divorce from Angelina Jolie, with whom he shares six children; he and Jolie are still embroiled in a custody battle. At the exhibit’s opening, Pitt explained why he began sculpting. “To me it’s about self-reflection. It’s about where I have gotten it wrong in my relationships, where have I misstepped, where am I complicit…For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me and taking account of those I may have hurt, moments I have just gotten wrong.”