cosmetics

The African beauty market is dominated by natural and botanical brands, but a new crop of emerging indies are hoping to bring science-backed rigour to the continent and engage a new generation of shoppers.

With its vast store network and broad customer reach, Walmart’s vice president of beauty Vinima Shekhar told The State of Fashion: Beauty Volume 2 that the mega retailer is leaning on logistics and a more premium assortment to reclaim its US beauty market share.

The beloved brand’s closure isn’t just another cautionary tale. It’s proof that even with an aspirational and credentialed Black founder, following a formulaic launch-and-scale playbook doesn’t guarantee success.

As online marketplaces grow, speciality and mass retailers face mounting pressure. With assortments blending and channels blurring, standing out is only getting harder.

APR Corp. has become a dominant force in the global K-beauty market, turning its founder, Kim Byung Hoon, into South Korea’s newest billionaire.

The Italian cosmetics giant has deftly engineered a premiumisation strategy, and has elevated its distribution, product selection and points of differentiation, heavily reducing discounts and promotions in the process. Chief executive Simone Dominici explained how it deployed its strategy in The State of Fashion: Beauty Volume 2.

At The Business of Beauty Global Forum, Front Row’s chief revenue officer Christopher Skinner and Tatcha’s chief marketing officer Nicole Frusci joined BoF’s Alice Gividen on stage to explore building a lasting beauty business in an ever-changing market.

When growth plateaus, beauty companies may remix their logos, colour schemes and even products in the hopes of appealing to a wider audience or re-engaging their core. But finding a new brand identity can sometimes mean upsetting fans of the old one.