The Top 10 global beauty influencers; 15 bidders vie to buy The Body Shop; perfumes and cosmetics deliver double digit growth for LVMH in Q1; and global design firm Benoy wins contract for $50 million revamp of David Jones Elizabeth Street store.
The Top 10 global beauty influencers
Forbes inaugural Top Influencers List is an exercise in mind-boggling numbers. To be published quarterly, the global media company has selected Beauty, Fitness and Home as the first three categories to be put under the social media microscope. Celebrities such as Katy Perry, the Kardashians and the Jenners have not been included in the data analysed by analytics firms Traacker and social insight firm Captiv8. According to the number-crunchers, the 10 most powerful beauty influencers have an international reach of 135 million across all major social media platforms.
- Zoe "Zoella" Suggs - The 27 year old Brit boasts 11.6 million YouTube subscribers, her own cosmetics line and three best-selling books
- Michelle Phan - With more than 1.1 billion views since launching online, Phan remains a phenomenon. Her business activities are valued at more than US$500 million and she has 8 million YouTube subscribers.
- Huda Kattan - Backed by her own false eyelash line, the 32 year old Dubai beauty maven has 19 million Instagram followers and a Sephora makeup line.
- Nikkie de Jager - Famous for her Power of Makeup videos, the Dutch makeup artist has 6.6 million YouTube subscribers.
- Shannon Harris - A.K.A Shaaanxo, the Kiwi social superstar has partnered with Clinique and Smashbox among other career highlights.
- Jeffree Star - The LA-based singer/model/makeup guru collaborates with fellow male influencer Manny Guterriez and also has his own cosmetics range.
- Kandee Johnson - A veteran 38 year old who started vlogging with an "ancient camera", Johnson is most famous for her collab with the Revlon-owned Sinful Colors nail brand.
- Manny Guterriez - The first male face of Maybelline, he worked on the shop floor at Sephora before making it big as Manny MUA.
- Christen Dominique - Another serial "collaborator"with Urban Decay, L'Oreal and Sephora.
- Wayne Goss - This British self-taught makeup artists has racked up 2.3 million YouTube subscribers. He launched his own brush line in 2013.
15 bidders vie to buy The Body Shop
News trickled out in dribs and drabs following the announcement that L'Oréal had put The Body Shop on the block. Early names in the race to acquire the global natural beauty chain included CVC Capital, The Carlyle Group and South Korea's CJ Group. Bloomberg reports that the French multinational is now in the enviable position of having to whittle down the number of interested parties to a short list of genuine buyers.
About 15 private equity companies have thrown their corporate hats into the ring, says Bloomberg. With such a fierce response, doubters who once thought that L'Oréal's asking price of around $US1 billion would scare off many hopefuls has been proven wrong.
Perfumes and cosmetics deliver double digit growth for LVMH in Q1
Luxury is back is the message of LVMH's double digit growth across all categories in the first quarter of the year. Total revenues for the world's largest luxury goods group rose 15 per cent to 9.9 billion euros ($AU13.86 billion) over the three month period. A result that beat analaysts' estimates by over 8 per cent.
The fashion and leathergoods division experienced a 15 per cent jump in revenues to 3.4 billion euros ($AU4.76 billion). Perfumes and cosmetics also boosted the bottom line by 12 per cent to 1.39 billion euros ($AU1.95 billion). Mon Guerlain, the new fragrance from the prestige French maison fronted by Angelina Jolie, has been a major success. Givenchy's lip colour lines did particularly well in Asia. While Sephora proved the locomotive of growth for LVMH's Selective Retailing division, which reported an 11 per cent spike in revenues to 3.15 billion euros ($AU4.41 billion).
The multinational's share price soared to a record high on the good news. According to analyst Rogerio Fujimori, as the luxury sector bellwether LVMH has raised the bar for other companies reporting their Q1 results in the coming weeks.
Global design firm Benoy wins contract for $50 million revamp of David Jones Elizabeth Street store
Benoy, the UK-based international architecture firm, has certainly got the runs on the board to refurbish the crown jewel of David Jones retail empire – the heritage Elizabeth Street store Sydney's CBD. The firm has a local office in Melbourne and some of its major international projects include Westfield London, the stunning iAPM mall in Shanghai and Parc Central, billed as the "new stadium for retail" in Guangzhou. In Western Australia, Benoy was also involved in the $350 million upgrade of Mandurah Forum and the redevelopment of The Galleria in Perth.
It's a big job to take on such a landmark building with a storied history. The project starts late this year and will take up to two years to complete. The famous store will be open throughout the renovation and the overhaul has been planned to cause "minimal disruption" to customers says David Jones.
The aim of the ambitious revamp is to bring beauty, fashion, food and dining, accessories and homewares under one roof. "Our vision is to create a benchmark for both Australian and international retail, delivering a world class shopping experience for our customers while embracing the heritage of this remarkable building", says David Jones COO David Thomas.
Snippets from the wires
- Another international fashion name bites the dust. Jaeger, the iconic 133 year old British fashion chain, has called in the administrators after failing to find a buyer for its 46 stores and 63 concessions across the UK.
- Lancôme has unveiled its first new travel retail counter in the Lotte Hotel in Seoul. Designed like a Parisian apartment, customers can explore the French prestige brand's product "families", including global bestsellers such as La Vie Est Belle fragrances, Génifique skincare and L'Absolu Rouge lipsticks.
- Myer and David Jones are increasing the number of Korean beauty brands in their stores. Nordstrom, the US department store stalwart, has launched seven K-beauty pop-up stores in the US and Canada through to May 7th.
- Chocolate is top-of-mind at Easter. But Australians are chocaholics for most of the year says Roy Morgan Research. In 2016, 68.4 per cent of the population scoffed some kind of chocolate in the average four week period – up from 65.3 per cent in 2013.
