The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The up-and-coming beauty retailer recently acquired the makeup brand, though no other details were given in a statement on investment firm Manzanita Capital’s website announcing the deal. Manzanita Capital has owned the Kevyn Aucoin brand since 2015.
Neither Harmay nor Manzanita Capital responded to BoF requests for further comment on the acquisition.
The brand was previously briefly available in the China market via multi-brand store SpaceNK, until the British retailer exited the market in 2020. It is believed that Harmay will use its retail network to help drive a new era of expansion for Kevyn Aucoin in China.
According to CBNData, the retailer now has nine stores across China focusing on selling niche brands, some of which have attracted long lines of customers in the weeks after their opening.
This isn’t the first brand investment Harmay has made this year, in January, it took a minority stake in French skincare brand Graine de Pastel.
Learn more:
Sephora’s China Rivals Ready for Battle
After 16 years in Mainland China, LVMH’s Sephora faces serious competition as local multi-brand players jostle for a larger slice of the country’s $51 billion beauty market.
Beijing’s Covid-19 policy shift will give the sector a boost in 2023 but a surge in infections and sluggish economic growth could dampen the recovery after an uplift from Chinese New Year.
This week, China rolled back some strict zero-Covid measures, opening a road to recovery for luxury and retail. But the journey is likely to be long and bumpy, experts warn.
Despite disappointing Singles Day sales results, harsh Zero Covid restrictions and supply chain woes, international beauty conglomerates continue to see China as a growth engine.
Disappointing sales were only part of the story, as brands increasingly used the world’s biggest online shopping festival as a marketing moment.