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.
Ushopal, a leading luxury beauty group in China that works with international brands including Natura Bisse, Juliette Has a Gun and Chantecaille, has announced the completion of a $100 million round of financing.
This injection, led by FountainVest Partners (part of the consortium that recently acquired Arc’teryx parent company, Amer Sports) increases Ushopal’s investment pool to $200 million, which it says will be used to ramp up growth for its brands in China and the Asia Pacific market.
Ushopal has recently built out its operations to include Bonnie & Clyde (BC), a chain of multi-brand brick and mortar beauty stores, but it also supports beauty brand partners with its network of 2,500 luxury influencers, an in-house content studio, branding team, Tmall retail operations and global logistics.
Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com have faced increasing competition in recent years from low-cost platforms, such as PDD Holding’s Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.