Kat Von D On The 10 Year Anniversary Of Her Beauty Brand, New Vegan Shoe Line, & More

2018 is a big year for Kat Von D. The makeup mogul and tattoo artist is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Kat Von D Beauty. She’s gearing up for a new album release and tour. And she’s also debuting a vegan shoe line very soon. Here, she tells us a little bit more about all the exciting things she has in the works and some of her favorite places to hangout in LA.

How does it feel to be celebrating 10 years of Kat Von D Beauty? What’s been the best part of it all?

It’s crazy! Every day I wake up and I’m just like this is a dream. I can’t believe that it’s been a decade. I’m just really proud of what myself and my team have been able to create this last decade. I feel like we really brought a lot to the beauty industry that doesn’t even have to do with makeup so much but messaging-wise, the animal activism, and also just showing people that the conventional idea of beauty isn’t necessary what you have to abide by. It’s something I’m really proud of.  

We hear you have a brow collection and anniversary collection launching soon. Tell us about the new products.

As far as brow, I’m excited about the fact that we’re creating something that has never been done before. I think there’s a place in the market for that. I know personally for me, I like to dye my hair so I’ve had every color under the rainbow and being able to have a brow product that matches that is really amazing. For the 10 year anniversary, yes I’m excited about the products, but I think I’m more excited about the campaign itself. I shot 10 of my modern day muses and filmed vignettes for each of them giving you the backstory of them and why they have inspired me and in turn inspired the makeup line and they’re not what people are going to expect. When people think of a beauty campaign, they think of a model with perfect skin and perfectly symmetrical facial features and for me that’s never been inspiring. I mean that’s beautiful in its own way but it’s not what’s driven me creatively or inspired me on an artistic level. So I’m excited to show the world these 10 people.

You recently won the Libby Award from Peta2 for best cruelty-free cosmetic brand. What does that mean to you?

It’s not really about winning the award. It’s the fact that there is an award for that. Having been fighting this battle for animal rights for some time, it use to feel quite lonely and now it feels like everybody is on board. It’s almost like you’re a dinosaur if you’re not cruelty-free and so that’s really exciting. The fact that there’s an award that’s being presented to brands in regards to being cruelty-free symbolizes a breakthrough in the industry and in just the human collective as far as how we’re thinking and how we’re consuming and purchasing things.

We hear you’re working on an album. Tell us about that.

The album I wrote a couple of years ago and at the time I was planning on moving to Spain and disappearing so I was like I’m just going to shelve it and then I decided to stay mainly for the animal rights stuff. I realized that I was a much more use to the cause if I stayed here and continued to grow my brand. So since I decided to stay, I wanted to release the album. So I’ll be releasing it and doing a tour simultaneously so we’re aiming at either this fall or summer of next year so I’m excited.

You also have a vegan shoe line in the works. What inspired you to create it?

I teamed up with Rebecca Mink who has been doing couture vegan shoes for ages. She’s like a pioneer. She has factories in Florence, Italy and it’s 100% percent vegan. So it was just such a no-brainer to team up with somebody who has been around the block in this industry and so I’m excited about it. We’re launching 28 unique styles this fall.

What are some of your favorite places to hang out in LA?

I don’t leave my house that often but when I do my husband and like to go out to eat at a lot of vegan restaurants. My personal favorite is Crossroads on Melrose and his new favorite is called Au Lac and it’s in Downtown. They have vegan octopus which is so amazing. It’s pretty mind-blowing. I highly recommend it. The Great Frog is my favorite jewelry place on Melrose. Cosmic Vinyl is the record store I love to go to and I like going to the Getty museum a lot.