As CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty, Katia Beauchamp sets out her ambition to build a lasting luxury brand that transcends the shadow of its famous founder…
Photo: Harper’s Market
It looks like Victoria Beckham is more excited and hopeful for the future than ever after it was announced that her business was finally profitable after 13 years of losses. Speaking to WWD magazine in early March, David Belhassen – founder of NEO Investment Partners and investor for Victoria Beckham – revealed that the former Spice Girls’ fashion business saw revenue increase 42% to 58 million pounds ($1,676 billion) in fiscal year 2022.
This achievement is not achieved by selling clothes, it is all about her diversification of accessories, especially her handbags, watches and even makeup lines. Not only that, but Victoria also has other best-selling items including a Frame Buckle belt for £190 and a special Shield sunglasses for £300 by designer. fashion advertising model. In addition, the handbag with strap and Satin Kajal eyeliner were also sold out after being released to the public.
At Victoria Beckham’s February show at Paris Fashion Week, alongside printed dresses and cutting-edge cuts, the brand launched its latest beauty line: eyeshadows. The $34 ultra-smooth cream, available in shades including pecans, macarons, sunflower gold, and pearlescent oysters, was applied to catwalk models’ makeup.
Victoria Beckham introduced a new creamy eyeshadow product on the Paris Fashion Week catwalk.
This is the first time Victoria Beckham has introduced a beauty product on the catwalk, but it won’t be the last, said Katia Beauchamp, the new CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty. Beauchamp took charge of the business in August 2022, just weeks before the British designer’s first show in the French capital. Beauchamp, co-founder of the pioneering beauty subscription service Birchbox, saw an opportunity for greater intersection between the fashion and beauty branches of the Victoria Beckham brand.
Victoria Beckham founded her eponymous luxury fashion brand in 2008. In September 2019, the designer known as the wife of former football player David Beckham collaborated with Sarah Creal — who has been spent time working at Estée Lauder, Tom Ford Beauty, Bobbi Brown and L’Oréal — to launch a beauty supplement with an 11-piece makeup set designed to create smoky eyes. The parent company of these fashion and beauty brands is owned by a joint venture between Victoria, David Beckham and Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment.
Analysts predict that the beauty business has more growth potential than the fashion segment, which is also a trend of many high-end fashion brands. Beauchamp declined to comment on current sales, but said Victoria Beckham Beauty is aiming for $100 million, a figure “very within reach”.
Naturally, Victoria Beckham still has a lot of work to do to stand out in the nearly $500 billion global beauty industry dominated by pure businesses, such as L’Oréal, Estée Lauder Companies and Coty, as well as beauty lines from luxury brands including Chanel and Hermès, as well as a group of celebrities and Hollywood stars are racing to launch their own beauty brands.
Eye makeup products are currently the top-grossing category for Victoria Beckham Beauty.
To capture market share, Victoria Beckham Beauty focuses on strengthening customer loyalty through quality and innovation, and has taken a more playful approach to makeup to set itself apart. Beauchamp explains: “The brand’s customers are aged between 18 and 65, mostly in the US, UK and Europe. The brand is primarily direct-to-consumer retail, with the majority of sales coming from e-commerce,” she said. The only wholesale partners are Violet Grey, the LA-based luxury retailer acquired by Farfetch last year, and Bergdorf Goodman, the US high-end department store owned by Neiman Marcus.
Eye makeup products are currently the top-grossing category for Victoria Beckham Beauty. To date, the brand has sold over 1 million Satin Kajal Liners worth $30. Its newly launched Eyewear eyeshadow is expected to account for a quarter of all beauty sales in March. “Eyewear has really exceeded our expectations. “We were surprised to see that something that challenged the immediately popular gel liner in terms of sales, was able to maintain high sales for such a long time,” says Beauchamp. ‘ said Mrs. Beauchamp.
Experts say that the brand also benefits from the recovery of the beauty industry after the pandemic. Global eye makeup product sales grew again in 2021, at $17.4 billion and are expected to reach $19.6 billion by 2025, according to data from the market research firm. Euromonitor International.
“Victoria Beckham Beuty uses a colorful approach to set herself apart from established luxury brands, whose beauty products are trending,” said Emilie Hood, beauty research analyst at Euromonitor. classical direction”.
“Legacy and luxury don’t have to be basic or neutral. We can turn bright and cheerful things into luxury. That’s something we’ve also achieved in fashion,” said Beauchamp. The situation seems to be very favorable. Data from social analytics firm Brandwatch shows that the launch of Victoria Beckham Beauty has attracted high engagement, with online mentions increasing by 260% in January 2023 compared to the previous year.
