Coty signs fragrance deal with Tiffany, beauty to be a major part of H&M's store expansion, US beauty market to remain number one, and Natalie Massenet tipped to join Condé Nast in US.
Coty signs fragrance deal with Tiffany
Chanel crafted seven men's and women's fragrances for Tiffany & Co from the late 1980s to the early Noughties through its Fragrances Exclusive division. Five of them - including Tiffany and Tiffany for Men - are still in production and sold in Tiffany stores and online. But a reinvigorated range is in the offing for the US luxury jeweller after inking a new fragrance licensing deal with Coty.
Currently, Coty has 26 fragrance brands and the stable will increase by more than 40 per cent when the 10 fragrance licenses acquired from P&G swell the portfolio mid-year. The Tiffany agreement will open up the fast-growing niche/luxury perfumery sector to Coty. "Tiffany's luxury heritage lends itself perfectly to Coty's prestige portfolio," says Bart Becht, chairman of Coty.
Tiffany has built a huge business in accessories such as entry-level earrings for a few hundred dollars and writing paper since the company decided to "become more affordable" in the early 90s. Rapid worldwide expansion over the past 20 years has boosted Tiffany's assets to close to US$4 billion. Many fashion designers and luxury goods companies make far more money from fragrances than clothes and bags and Tiffany now has a much bigger retail presence and market penetration in fast-growing markets than it did 30 years ago. The timing couldn't be better for a fragrance partnership with a much-enlarged Coty.
Beauty to be a major part of H&M's store expansion
The Swedish fast fashion giant opened its 500th store in North America alone in December and has plans to add 425 more stores to its global network over the next 12 months. New Zealand, Cyprus and Puerto Rico will get their first H&M store this year but the core markets for the expansion will be China and the US. H&M also added new stores at the rate of more than one a day in 2015 - 413 in total - to take its worldwide tally to 3924 locations in 61 countries, including Australia.
The company revamped its beauty range with great fanfare last year and started rolling out a 30 product organic skin, hair and body range linked to its Conscious Collection fashions a couple of weeks ago. H&M also plans to install beauty departments in 300 more stores this year to increase the overall number to 1200 - just under a third of its stores worldwide . Although the fast-growing retailer is upping its game online, it will continue to expand its bricks-and-mortar reach for "many years". Overall revenue grew to US$25 billion in 2015 and the company is committed to store growth of 10 to 15 per cent annually.
US beauty market to remain number one
With so much attention focused on rapidly-growing China, it's easy to forget that the US is still the largest single beauty and cosmetics market. According to The International Journal of Market Research, beauty and personal care sales will reach US$62 billion by the end of the year and the US market will retain its number one ranking for the foreseeable future. The make-up segment is expected to soar to US$8.4 billion and the haircare category, although mature, will climb to US$12 billion.
According to analysts, American consumers are increasingly upgrading to premium make-up and skincare and more brands are entering the prestige sector worldwide. The global market for premium cosmetics is expected to reach US$126 billion by 2019. The fragrance market is growing most strongly in the Asia/Pacific region, Latin America and Eastern Europe. But skincare remains the largest sector overall, posting annual global revenues of US$121 billion.
Natalie Massenet tipped to join Condé Nast in US
There's been a wave of layoffs at Conde Nast in the US over recent months. But in the first week of January, Condé Nast Careers tweeted that the publisher was hiring at a rate of one job per hour. A photo of a winking Grace Coddington, who recently departed the role of creative director at US Vogue, accompanied the upbeat message.
The New York Post reports that Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-A-Porter, could be one of the new recruits. She doesn't need the money, of course, following a golden handshake of over US$150 million on departing the luxury online retailer after its merger with Yoox. Massenet is great friends with Anna Wintour and is chairman of the British Fashion Council. But what really adds substance to the rumour is the fact that her expertise would be invaluable when Style.com re-launches as an e-commerce site later this year after shifting the date from the northern hemisphere Autumn.
The new site will launch first in the UK with 100 to 200 upscale brands before heading to the US and the rest of the world. Condé Nast has already made some very significant hires, including Franck Zayan and Olivier Breton from Galeries Lafayette, Melissa Dick, the former editorial director of Asos, and Natalie Varma, former head of e-commerce at Anya Hindmarch.
Snippets from the wires
- Twenty years ago, a rash of US make-up artists and designers launched namesake brands, including and Carol Shaw of Lorac. As beauty eds know, Bobbi sold her business to to take the company to the next level. Ms Shaw has announced a partnership with private equity firm Encore Consumer to fund Lorac's further expansion.
- Chiara Ferragni, founder of cult fashion site TheBlondeSalad.com, has become one of the highest earning bloggers in the world through her own shoe collection and collaborations with leading fashion designers, including Chanel and Dior. Boasting millions of Instagram followers, the Italian beauty has become a global brand ambassador for Pantene Pro-V - her first beauty partnership.
- The natural beauty market has ballooned over the past 20 years and carried the organic sector along in its wake. A new report from Grand View Research predicts that the global organic skincare market alone will reach US$12 billion by 2012. Facial moisturisers lead the category, followed by sunscreens and body lotions.
- Now owned by L'Oréal, NYX Professional Makeup is poised to become a major force. The company opened its first retail store in LA last October, adding other locations in the US, Canada, France, Italy and Spain over the past three months. There's more flagship stores on the drawing board as the brand hopes to cut into the market shares of prestige and budget beauty chains from Sephora to Kiko Milano.
- Total sales for Salvatore Ferragamo lifted 7.4 per cent in the financial year 2015 to 1.43 billion euros (AUD$2.18 billion). The company's fragrances were a solid performer, rising 18 per cent in the fourth quarter.
- Maureen Chiquet, CEO of Chanel for the past nine years, has stepped down from the prestigious role following differences of opinion about the future direction of the prestige fashion house. Chairman Alain Wertheimer will temporarily take over operational management.
- Chinese New Year celebrations run from February 7th to 13th and premium skincare brands are scrambling to offer visitors and locals some of their most advanced new skincare products. A clutch of launches hit Australian shelves over the past few weeks from Genaissance serum through a new formulation of Chanel Sublimage, Cellular Radiance Perfecting Fluide Pure Gold, Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Eye Creme and more. Lancôme is offering a Happy New Chinese Year seven piece gift with purchase worth $140 when customers spend over $88.
