Serve Every Shade.

Sephora carries more than 7,000 shades of complexion, and the brief was to make that number feel personal rather than statistical for their US OPEN partnership. Inclusivity had to become something guests could see, touch, and take home. The activation needed to be a destination in its own right, one that pulled people in, and sent them off with a real connection to the brand.

Few objects are as instantly recognizable as the tennis ball. One shape, one felt, one color, the same on every court in the world. That singular shade is what made it an icon. Sephora sees beauty through a wider lens, with more than 7,000 shades built to meet every person who walks in. The US Open gave us the chance to take the most iconic object in the sport and reimagine it in every tone.

Game. Shade. Match. We took the tennis ball, the sport’s singular icon, and remade it across a spectrum of Sephora shades. One object that had only ever come in a single color now told the whole story of complexion. Around it we built an experience where guests could serve their look, find love in their shade, and rally in every tone. A game everyone already knew, played the Sephora way.

The booth landed on the grounds of the US Open for the finals weekend. The back wall was built entirely from tennis balls, hundreds of them arranged across the full spectrum of shades. Chairs were designed as oversized tennis balls, turning the space into a court guests wanted to sit in, shoot in, and stay in.

At the center were Sephora Pros. Guests, press, and influencers took a seat and received a professional shade match, a moment usually reserved for the store, delivered courtside. Every match came with a custom kit to take home – a Sephora shade tennis ball in their tone, a branded fan for the late-summer heat, a mirror, and more.