Coty is continuing its prioritisation of prestige with an investment in Orveda, a skin care label known for its vegan, genderless offering and microbiome and prebiotics focus. The brand was co-founded by Coty chief executive Sue Nabi and friend Nicolas Vu in 2014, but Nabi had sold her stake in Orveda in 2020 before joining Coty, leaving Vu as sole owner.

Vu will continue to lead the company as chief executive.

“This brand really fills a void that we had on the high end procedure side of the market … It’s a part of the market that is booming right now,” said Constantin Sklavenitis, Coty’s chief of prestige brands. “For us, it’s important to be there because it means you have consumers that want these kinds of products.”

The investment will bring benefits to both sides, added Sklavenitis. He said that for an indie brand like Orveda, Coty’s corporate infrastructure will aid growth, while having Orveda as a part of Coty’s lineup will bolster both its skin care and prestige roster.

“Coty knows that high-performance, high-quality skincare is the future of luxury beauty. We are excited about the support that Coty’s scale and resources will provide as we continue to introduce Orveda worldwide,” said Vu.

Coty did not disclose neither the terms of the investment nor Orveda’s current revenue, Sklavenitis. The company will prioritise growing the brand’s international presence — with special focus on China — as well as its number of retail partners, to do so. Orveda is currently sold in 15 countries in the doors of premium retailers including Saks, Harvey Nichols and La Samaritaine, as well as e-commerce platforms like Net-a-Porter.

“We’ll go wherever the high-end prestige customers are,” said Sklavenitis.

Coty has made its intention to invest in skin care clear this week, with the launch of Covergirl Skin, the makeup line’s first-ever skincare collection. In its most recent earnings report, Coty named growing the skin care category as a major goal for the company. That includes growing its other prestige skin care labels, specifically Philosophy’s market share within the US and expanding European brand Lancaster to Asia. It also relaunched Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics with a “clean” formulation focus, and in July centralised Kylie Skin under the Kylie Cosmetics umbrella. Coty aims to launch Kim Kardashian West’s skin care brand during the second half of this fiscal year.

Last week, Coty revealed a strong quarterly earnings report on Nov. 8. During the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, prestige cosmetics more than doubled year-over-year, and revenue increased 22 percent.

Coty also this week tapped a new chief scientific officer, Dr. Shimei Fan, former senior vice president of Shiseido’s Americas Innovation Center, to lead the organisation in research and development efforts as it continues to make investments in skincare and colour cosmetics.

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