One of Rhode’s first muses, Alexandra Leclerc speaks to Vogue about her limited edition collection, little dachshund Leo, and luminous approach to beauty.One of Rhode’s first muses, Alexandra Leclerc speaks to Vogue about her limited edition collection, little dachshund Leo, and luminous approach to beauty.
Alexandra Leclerc’s new Rhode collaboration is a pocket-sized self-portrait. There’s Gemini, a shimmering candy pink named for her star sign; Monaco, a terracotta nod to the place she calls home; Monet, an apricot shade inspired by her favorite artist. Sweet Apple, meanwhile, references her favorite desserts. And then there’s Leo.
Leclerc’s beloved miniature dachshund has his own starring role in the campaign for Rhode <3 Alexandra Leclerc, the limited-edition collection launching September 15. It was only natural. “He’s the best. He brings the best vibes,” Leclerc tells Vogue. “He’s always so happy. He’s the happiest dog. Honestly, he just lightens everything.”
Indeed, it’s difficult to separate Leo—who she shares with husband, Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc—from her world at all. “We bring him everywhere. He’s always with us! We treat him like a child,” she says. Leo, of course, was front and center at the couple’s wedding as a groomsman in a custom tuxedo, and is a paddock regular. While he’s been with them from Florence to Corsica this summer, there is currently only one destination that has proved tricky: a safari. “We always plan our trips based on whether the hotel is fine with dogs,” she explains. “The safari is the one thing that’s holding us back—we don’t want to leave Leo behind!”
Her relationship with Rhode has been rather easier to navigate. Leclerc became the brand’s first muse-ambassador when she starred in its fall Lip Case campaign in 2024, having already been using the products herself. Her gateway was Hailey Bieber’s original Glazing Milk. Then Pocket Blush arrived. “That’s my all-time favorite product,” she says.
For the new collaboration, Leclerc and Rhode have shrunk that essential down into Pocket Pearl: three miniature versions of the blush with a new reflective, shimmery finish. There’s also the Sweet Apple Peptide Lip Tint, a butterfly Flutter Charm, and a carabiner that allows the tiny blush to be hooked onto a bag. It’s a detail particularly suited to someone frequently on the move. “It’s a collection that really fits naturally into my lifestyle, which was important,” she says.
Leclerc’s approach to actually wearing the products is similarly intuitive. Her preferred Pocket Blush technique starts on the back of her hand, before she takes a brush across the apples of her cheeks and nose to recreate the flush of a day spent in the sun. “Just as if I’m a bit sunburned,” she says.
That flush changes with the seasons. Over summer, she has gravitated towards the brighter pink Gemini and apricot Monet. With fall approaching, she’s ready to deepen things. “I do like to go a little bit darker with the colors,” she says. That means the terracotta Monaco on the cheeks and Sweet Apple’s bronzy shimmer on the lips. Fall in Monaco itself is something she looks forward to: “The city becomes quieter, which I love, and it’s when dinners with family and friends take over.” Leclerc is an enthusiastic host, if not necessarily the person to put in charge of the stove. “I’m not a great cook at all,” she laughs, “but I do love to eat.”
Beauty-wise, however, there is little appetite for excess. “I really am all about makeup that looks and feels like skin,” Leclerc says, a philosophy she sees as naturally aligned with Rhode’s own. Her routine begins with Glazing Milk and Peptide Glazing Fluid before she adds bronze and blush, layering Pocket Pearl over the original Pocket Blush when she wants light without obvious glitter. “It’s like a real glow,” she says.
The collaboration, then, is about bottling—or, rather, pocketing—what’s already there: Monaco, art history, bronzed skin, a little shimmer, and a beloved pet who is never ever too far away.
The Rhode <3 Alexandra Leclerc collection will be available exclusively at rhodeskin.com from September 15 at 9:00am PST/12:00pm EST
