Sephora, Complex Team Up on Beauty Hub
Sephora and Complex Networks are teaming up.
The makeup giant and BuzzFeed Inc.-owned media brand covering the cross-section of streetwear, fashion and Black culture are partnering initially for six months to produce beauty-focused content that can be found on the latter’s channels, marking Complex’s first official venture into this space.
More from WWD
The “Beauty Beyond the Surface” hub will feature editorial and video series from recognizable names and faces in the lifestyle and sneaker space, alongside Complex employees who’ll tell vivid stories on their personal beauty and style journeys.
“It started with thinking about Complex’s audience. Obviously we have a commitment to our diverse brands and our diverse audience and Complex is an incredible voice working to uplift communities of color and we felt like there was great synergy there,” Abigail Jacobs, SVP brand and integrated marketing at Sephora, said, of why the company approached Complex. “We also thought of Complex as an incredible destination for style, and there is such an opportunity and synergy between style and beauty that we felt hadn’t been tapped into yet, so we got really excited about that opportunity and thankfully when we approached them they got excited about it, too.”
She added that she saw Complex’s lack of beauty coverage to date as an opportunity as opposed to a hindrance. “We felt like it was an opportunity to build something together and like I said style and beauty go so hand in hand.”
For Complex, Jeff Mazzacano, senior vice president of brand partnership sales, described the new venture as “a pretty nontraditional partnership.”
“When it came to the beauty space, no one was really speaking about it through kind of a cultural lens, so Sephora came to us as a leader in the space reaching a young diverse audience to really tell the stories around beauty habits, beauty brands specific to the BIPOC audience that we serve,” he said. ‘It wasn’t a traditional based on the numbers, based on past editorial credits [partnership]. They really understood that we had a firm grasp on young BIPOC women and we really wanted to tell a deeper story around brands, trends and stories around beauty and hair.”
As for what the partnership will entail, it will be a mix of online articles, videos, with content published on a weekly basis. “Everything from the best kind of beauty moments in hip-hop, to celebrating the red lip, to a great story that was one of our first pieces talking about braids as a protective hairstyle,” added Mazzacano.
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
