Beauty Inc Awards: The 2023 Launches, Transformational Deal of the Year
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Launch of the Year
Prestige: Prada Beauty
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Miuccia Prada is one of fashion’s most innovative thinkers, so no surprise that when it came time to launch a beauty line with licensee L’Oréal, her goal was to shake things up. “What does beauty mean today?” was Prada’s starting point, the designer said at launch with the brand’s co-creative director Raf Simons, noting the duo believes beauty is the “representation of personality, freedom and self-expression,” and that the idea of care was also crucial. Licensee L’Oréal translated that ethos into a collection of skin care and color cosmetics, tapping Lynsey Alexander as global creative makeup artist and Inès Alpha as e-makeup artist. They dove into Prada’s extensive archives, translating textures, prints and shades into striking products. Likewise, skin care is not about correcting faults, but rather helping the skin adapt to its environment in real time. Coming on the heels of the very successful 2022 introduction of Prada Paradoxe women’s scent, L’Oréal’s ambitions for the line were equally as bold. Said Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oréal Luxe, “This launch will open a new chapter that will propel the brand to new heights.”
Mass: Fine’ry
In a stellar year for fragrance, Maesa took a different approach to the category — and won big. Fine’ry, comprising nine body sprays and eaux de parfum, launched at Target in February with the goal of democratizing scent. “We saw this huge appetite and desire for people to have access to the true kind of untouchable world of niche, prestige, premium fragrance, and when we looked at the offerings for the consumer at mass, there really wasn’t anything,” said Dana Steinfeld, senior vice president of Maesa’s innovation arm, at launch. The strategy worked. Circana reported that the mass market fragrance business grew at virtually the same rate as the prestige market, as consumers found value in lower-priced products amid a slowdown in demand for high premium luxury scents. For Fine’ry — mission accomplished.
Transformational Deal of the Year: The Estée Lauder Cos. acquisition of Tom Ford
Since the launch of Tom Ford Beauty in 2006, the brand has been a shining star for the Estée Lauder Cos. The fragrance division goes from strength to strength, churning out global hits and sparking olfactive trends; makeup, too, while harder hit during the pandemic, has been directional, and combined, Tom Ford Beauty is on the verge of billion-dollar brand status. No wonder, then, that when the designer put his namesake brand up for sale, The Estée Lauder Cos. outbid rival Kering to acquire it in a $2.3 billion deal that was Lauder’s largest ever and marked the beauty giant’s foray into fashion. “As an owned brand, this strategic acquisition will unlock new opportunities and fortify our growth plans for Tom Ford Beauty,” said Lauder chief executive Fabrizio Freda, at the time of the deal. It also marked a beacon forward during a tough year for the company, which was hit hard by the downturn in China. “This deal will further help to propel our momentum in the promising category of luxury beauty for the long term,” said Freda, “while reaffirming our commitment to being the leading pure player in prestige beauty.”
Breakthrough Brand
Breakthrough Brand of the Year: RMS Beauty
Long before “clean” was a beauty buzzword, makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift was sounding the call for cosmetics to be made with better, safer ingredients. In 2009, when she launched her brand, RMS Beauty, her closest competitors were in natural food stores — rather than beauty specialty channels. Fast forward more than a decade, and Swift’s message is more relevant than ever, and, under chief executive officer David Olsen, it’s resonating, too. On social media, RMS Beauty has refined its platform strategy, effectively using Swift (one recent video hit a million views in less than a day) and a cadre of diverse content creators to create cross-generational viral moments on TikTok, while leaning into more polished content with judicious use of short-form video to drive engagement on Instagram. The strategy is working: RMS Beauty is cleaning up, with the brand’s website posting exponential sales increases — blush and foundation brushes up 3,473 percent, SuperNatural Serum up 573 percent, Eyelights Cream Shadows up 1,150 percent.
Newcomer of the Year: Polite Society
When Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson exited Too Faced, the brand they founded in 1998 and sold to the Estée Lauder Cos. for 1.45 billion in 2016, it was just a matter of time before they were back in the beauty game. The boys (as the duo, who are partners in both business and life) have too much fun building brands to sit on the sidelines. No wonder their new venture is named Toy Box Brands, a cross-category incubator that launched Polite Society in August. The clean makeup brand, an Ulta Beauty exclusive, taps into the duo’s trademark cheeky ethos and their prowess in product development, with products including lip plumper, mascara and foundation, where Blandino and Johnson know how to create enduring mega-hits. But Polite Society is an evolution of their past, rather than a reincarnation of it. The line meets Ulta’s Conscious Beauty criteria, but its ethos is very different to most brands of its ilk. “I didn’t ever see myself in any of those brands,” said Blandino. “Where’s the glitz? Where are the actives? There’s room for a really fabulous kick–s clean line.”
Buzzy Collab: Lancôme x Louvre
One French icon deserves another, and when it comes to partnerships, Lancôme doesn’t think small. This year, the L’Oréal-owned brand teamed up with the famed Louvre museum in Paris for a limited-edition collection celebrating self-confidence and beauty with the tagline, “Beauty Is a Living Art.” Standouts included refillable lipsticks embossed with architectural details from the museum and the Richelieu Face and Eyeshadow Palette stamped with the likeness of the Venus de Milo. The gala celebrating the collection was equally as starry, with Lancôme ambassadors Isabella Rossellini, Penelope Cruz, He Cong and Emma Chamberlain among the guests lucky enough to roam the museum during off hours. “The Venus de Milo is the ultimate beauty, a symbol of perfection,” said He Cong, “and when you face her, you sense her magnetism, her confidence that just radiates.” Added Rossellini, “The Greek aesthetic, the search for beauty — it marries very well with what is the history at Lancôme.”
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