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Introducing The Business of Beauty

Kim Kardashian West covers BoF’s first special report on the $500 billion global beauty industry, which accompanies our latest special print edition.
Kim Kardashian West covers BoF's The Business of Beauty report
By
  • Imran Amed

LONDON, United Kingdom — We are fascinated by the beauty business — not just because it is so closely intertwined with fashion, but also because beauty is at the centre of some of the most exciting currents running through the world today: digital disruption, globalisation and the drive for greater inclusivity. Indeed, there is much fashion can learn from how the beauty business has embraced the forces shaping our future.

As our special report reveals, change is now coming faster than ever. Tapping social media influence and e-commerce, buzzy indie brands have risen quickly to take market share from the beauty behemoths that dominate the sector. Take our cover star Kim Kardashian West, a mega-influencer who has realised she can do more than just license her name. In today's direct-to-consumer world, she can build her own burgeoning empire. According to market reports, Kardashian sells an estimated 350,000 units per product launch, which could result in an estimated turnover of more than $100 million in revenue in the first year of her fragrance and beauty businesses.

The conglomerates have responded with a frenzy of M&A, gobbling up successful start-ups where they can. But what the future looks like is unclear, as the industry is buffeted not only by digital media but radical transparency, hyper-personalisation and blurring gender boundaries, not to mention growing competition from the health and wellness sector.

But exploring these topics will require more than a one-off report. So, we have begun to build a team of experts to bring to the beauty sector the same kind of agenda-setting coverage that has made BoF the leading global voice in fashion. We hope to challenge the beauty industry to think more broadly about its evolution as with great change comes great opportunity.

This report will give you a taste of the kind of beauty coverage you can expect from BoF in the coming months. We hope you enjoy it and look forward to your feedback as we turn our attention to this fascinating and dynamic global business.

Imran Amed, Founder and Editor-in-Chief

BoF's latest special print edition — including our special report on The Business of Beauty — is available for purchase at shop.businessoffashion.com and at select retailers around the world. If you sign up to BoF Professional before June 29, 2018, you'll receive this issue as part of your annual membership, which also includes unlimited access to articles, exclusive analysis, invitations to networking events and the members-only app. Subscribe here today.

© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

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