THE RENEGADE ISSUE THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY

SEPHORA AMERICAS CEO DAVID SULITEANU SHAKE IT UP, BABY! WITH MODERN BEAUTY BRITT MAREN AND HIS RETAIL DREAM TEAM, MARGARITA HOW SEPHORA IS REDEFINING ARRIAGADA, JULIE BORNSTEIN, SHARON ROTHSTEIN AND MARY HERALD. BEAUTY RETAILING THE FIREBRAND OF THE FRAGRANCE WORLD ENDURANCE TEST: INDIES FACE A NEW REALITY

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MAKEUP ARTISTRY BY CHARLOTTE WILLER. ©2012 MAYBELLINE LLC.

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FEATURES 18 Forging a New Model A laser-like focus on how, when, why and where women buy beauty products has catapulted CONTENTS Sephora to the forefront of the retail ranks. 24 In Development A quantitative look at the burgeoning beauty markets in South and Central America. 26 No Bed of Roses Retailers may be bemoaning the dearth of innovative new indie brands, but as Molly Prior reports, survival for smaller brands is full of thorny issues. 30 Agent Provocateur When it comes to changing people’s perceptions about perfumery, Christophe Laudamiel is as outspoken as he is passionate. DEPARTMENTS CORNER OFFICE 6 The Drive to Thrive Superstar hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai embraces his competitive streak as he continues to build his commercial empire and empower his team. 8 Black Book: Aerin Lauder The ever chic Aerin Lauder shares her go-to places for business and pleasure. 9 Aha Moment: Vera Strubi As Thierry Mugler’s Angel celebrates its 20th anniversary, its creative force, Vera Strubi, reveals the project’s defining moments. BEAUTY BULLETIN 10 Bold Strokes Reveling in the tactile pleasures of fall makeup. 12 Launch Window Top products launching in September. CONSUMER CHRONICLES 14 Shopping in the Heart of Wal-Mart Country Mary McDonald hits her neighborhood beauty hubs in Northwest Arkansas. 16 Shopper Stalker Who’s buying what—and why— in White Plains, N.Y. MISC 32 Courting Success One-on-one with Mama Mio’s cofounder and chief executive, Sian Sutherland.

ON THE COVER: Sephora’s David Suliteanu, Margarita Arriagada, Sharon Rothstein, Julie Bornstein and Mary Herald photographed exclusively for WWD Beauty Inc by Je! Riedel. Model: Britt Maren at Women Management. Hair by Kevin Woon at Modern beauty Jed Root. Makeup by Jake Bailey at The Wall Group. Britt Maren Styled by Isabel Dupré at The Wall Group. Set Design by Lisa wears Dior. Gwilliam at Jed Root. Gown by Hervé Léger by Max Azria. PHOTO BY JEFF RIEDEL BY PHOTO

WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2012 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year a"er the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 204, NO. 52. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks a"er receipt of order. Address additional issue in May, June, October and December, and two additional issues in February, March, April, August, September and November) by Fairchild Fashion Media, all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630- which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: S.I. Newhouse, 5656 or fax the request to 212-630-5883. For all request for reprints of articles please contact The YGS Group at [email protected], or call 800-501-9571. Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, Chief Executive O!cer; Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., President; John W. Bellando, Chief Operating O!cer & Chief Financial O!cer; Jill Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Media magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our Bright, Chief Administrative O!cer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing o!ces. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that o#er products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these o#ers Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich- and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR Hill, ON L4B 4R6. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615 5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. For New York Hand Delivery Service address changes or inquiries, please WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY contact Mitchell’s NY at 1-800-662-2275, option 7. Subscribers: If the Post O!ce alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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EDWARD NARDOZA EDITOR IN CHIEF, WWD EDITOR’S LETTER PETE BORN EXECUTIVE EDITOR, BEAUTY JENNY B. FINE EDITOR

JENNIFER WEIL EUROPEAN EDITOR O Pioneers! JULIE NAUGHTON SENIOR PRESTIGE MARKET BEAUTY EDITOR MOLLY PRIOR BEAUTY FINANCIAL EDITOR avid Suliteanu is an unlikely revolutionary. A retail veteran, he FAYE BROOKMAN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BELISA SILVA BEAUTY MARKET EDITOR, MASS began his career at Bullocks in Los Angeles and steadily worked JAYME CYK EDITORIAL ASSISTANT his way up the department store ranks to the position of vice LISA KELLY COPY EDITOR chairman and director of stores at Macy’s East. He then spent ART two years as group president of diversified businesses at The BARBARA SULLIVAN ART DIRECTOR DHome Depot before joining Sephora in 2000. Under his tenure as president CONTRIBUTORS SAMANTHA CONTI AND NINA JONES (London), MILES SOCHA (Paris), and chief executive officer, the number of stores has quintupled and sales CYNTHIA MARTENS (Milan), MARCY MEDINA AND RACHEL BROWN (Los Angeles), have grown by a factor of 14. Suliteanu’s strategy basically lays in forgetting MELISSA DRIER AND SUSAN STONE (Berlin), AMANDA KAISER (Tokyo) everything he learned as a department store retailer, making him the perfect PHOTO choice for the cover of our Renegade issue, in which we’re celebrating those CARRIE PROVENZANO PHOTO EDITOR LEXIE MORELAND ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR who have pioneered new ways to do business—and won. JENNA GREENE ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR ERIN FITZGERALD STUDIO MANAGER “The predominant language spoken by retailers was a brand language. EILEEN TSUJI PHOTO COORDINATOR It was developed by the department store approach, which was brand- ROBERT COHEN PHOTO FACILITATOR JOHN AQUINO, GEORGE CHINSEE, STEVE EICHNER, KYLE ERICKSEN, centric and continues to be brand-centric today,” Suliteanu told me over THOMAS IANNACCONE, ROBERT MITRA PHOTOGRAPHERS the course of my reporting for “Forging a New Model.” “Our approach from CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS the beginning was never brand-centric. It was always client-centric.” That RUVEN AFANADOR, KENJI AOKI, DAN BORRIS, NIGEL DICKSON, BEN HASSETT, HENRY LEUTWYLER, MARK HANAUER, MICHAEL NAGLE, approach has led Sephora to implement some unorthodox—and extremely JEFF RIEDEL, PHILIPPE SALOMON, DAVID LEWIS TAYLOR, YASU+JUNKO successful—methods for selling beauty products, be it by singling out a mere six products from thousands as the month’s must-buys or setting up in-store BEAUTY INC ADVERTISING PAUL JOWDY VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLISHER, WWD play stations where patrons can do anything from manicures to makeovers. PAMELA DANIELS PUBLISHER, BEAUTY INC Suliteanu’s current goal is equally audacious: to become the number-one JILL BIREN WEST COAST DIRECTOR COURTNEY HAZIRJIAN WEST COAST ACCOUNT MANAGER prestige beauty retailer in America. Find out the strategy he and his senior ODILE EDA-PIERRE ACCOUNT MANAGER, PARIS management team have devised to achieve just that on page 18. CHRISTOPHER SANTORELLA BEAUTY SALES ASSISTANT Sephora was instrumental in the indie-brand boom of the late Nineties. MARKETING/CREATIVE SERVICES JANET MENAKER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MARKETING Such brands brought energy, youth and animation to beauty counters EMILY CORTEZ DIRECTOR, CREATIVE SERVICES across the country. A decade later, they, like Sephora, are now well KRISTEN M. WILDMAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EVENT MARKETING MARJORIE KEATING PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR established, leading some retailers and industry analysts in search of the DANIELLE MCMURRAY DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING AND SPECIAL PROJECTS next generation of game-changing ideas. But as WWD’s beauty financial JENNIFER PINCUS DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING FABIO SALLES CREATIVE DIRECTOR editor, Molly Prior, reports in “No Bed JULIA DONAHUE COPY DIRECTOR ALEXIS WARCHALOWSKI DIRECTOR, DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT of Roses,” cultivating and growing an BRIANNA LIPOVSKY ASSOCIATE MARKETING DIRECTOR KEY POINTS independent makeup brand today is JENNIFER BORCK SENIOR MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING JAMIE RUDOLPH MANAGER, EVENT MARKETING FROM THIS ISSUE much more challenging than it was a MICHAEL FOUNTAS MANAGER, EVENT MARKETING 5 ALISSA GROSS ASSOCIATE MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING decade ago. Discover today’s emerging JESSICA CASEY ASSOCIATE MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING 1. GIRLS JUST WANT indies, and what it will take for them DANIELLE K. STEWART COORDINATOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING TO HAVE FUN to navigate through the thorny issues LEIGH ALCOTT MARKETING COORDINATOR By pioneering a client-centric confronting them, on page 26. PRODUCTION approach to retailing that GENA KELLY VICE PRESIDENT, MANUFACTURING emphasizes the shopping As a perfumer at IFF for eight CHRIS WENGIEL GROUP PRODUCTION DIRECTOR experience, Sephora has gobbled years, Christophe Laudamiel could KEVIN HURLEY PRODUCTION DIRECTOR JILL BREINER ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION MANAGER up market share in the U.S. be considered a card-carrying beauty market. PAGE 18 member of the establishment. But CIRCULATION ELLEN DEALY SENIOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2. LAND OF OPPORTUNITY Laudamiel, who has a master’s JOHN CROSS PLANNING AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR In South America, standout PEGGY PYLE MARKETING DIRECTOR degree in chemistry, grew frustrated SUZANNE BERARDI SENIOR ONLINE MANAGER brands have strong color with the commercial fragrance ALISON CHRISTIE ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER statements. Fragrance-wise, world and struck out on his own to designers dominate. PAGE 24 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA expand the parameters of perfumery. WILL SCHENCK CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER 3. CREATIVITY, NOT As outspoken as he is inventive, SUZANNE REINHARDT VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE & OPERATIONS COMMODITIZATION DAN SHAR VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER, DIGITAL Frédéric Fekkai on the keys Laudamiel shares his vision with MELISSA BRECHER VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MICHAEL ATMORE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, FOOTWEAR NEWS & DIRECTOR OF BRAND DEVELOPMENT to growth in the mass-market WWD’s executive editor of beauty, Pete DEVON BEEMER FINANCE DIRECTOR hair-care business. PAGE 6 Born, in “Agent Provocateur” on page TANYA DAVIS BUSINESS ANALYST JANET JANOFF BUSINESS MANAGER 4. SOFT TOUCH 30. As you’ll see, Laudamiel isn’t shy The dominant new texture about expressing his views, and we NANCY BUTKUS CREATIVE DIRECTOR in fall makeup. PAGE 10 hope you’re not, either. Drop me a line PETER W. KAPLAN EDITORIAL DIRECTOR 5. SCENT VENT at jenny_fi[email protected] Perfumer Christophe Laudamiel and tell me what you think about this GINA SANDERS PRESIDENT & CEO on art driving commerce. PAGE 30 issue. —JENNY B. FINE

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MASTER CLASS The Drive to Thrive Success hasn’t mellowed Frédéric Fekkai. Having parlayed his superstar hairstylist status into a multimillion-dollar brand (and selling it to P&G), Fekkai remains passionate about spreading his vision and his products to as many people as possible. BY JENNY B. FINE / PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL NAGLE

rédéric Fekkai created a new category for beauty— prestige hair care—when he launched his eponymous brand in 1995, and he hasn’t looked back. After navigating adroitly through the ups and downs of life as an entrepreneur, Fekkai now has the power of industry behemoth P&G behind him—and the Fvision of creating a beauty megabrand to match. He may have the means to retire from active duty in the beauty industry, but, as he reveals in this wide-ranging interview, he most definitely doesn’t have the desire.

What’s your current assessment of the beauty industry overall and the hair category specifically? Where do you see the most opportunity? It’s a great moment. Hair has taken on more importance in beauty. People realize hair is not second to skin—it’s a vital point of beauty. If it’s not shiny, healthy, colorful, it’s a minus in our beauty flow. Retailers are also starting to pay more attention and are treating the category less as a commodity and more as a platform, and that is a plus. That seems like a bit of an uphill battle because the category has become so commoditized. What has to happen for it to be elevated? We have to work on the presentation and the assortment. We need to bring more guidance, more pampering to the customer. The message has to be like skin care. In the hair industry, we don’t see too many categories; in skin care, you have different “Ambition is a great thing. It keeps me technologies for different skin treatments. There is a broad thinking, keeps me growing, keeps assortment, and in hair care we need to do that. People make me fighting, keeps me passionate. product according to hair types and that’s it. There’s more than The minute I stop being ambitious, that. That is where we need to focus. that means I’m getting bored.” How has your vision of the business evolved? I believe that more and more, women are thirsty for information and ideas for their hair. The vision I have is very simple: How can we make it user friendly and create collections Born in Aix-en-Provence, France, Frédéric Fekkai moved to Paris at age 21 to study IN BRIEF of products that will allow women to easily handle and manage hairdressing with French legend Jacques Dessange. Four years later, he moved to New their hairstyle, whatever the weather is and whatever chemicals York to help open the Bruno Dessange salon, a joint venture at the time between Dessange and stylist they use on their hair? It’s about youth, vitality. And why are Bruno Pittini. In 1989, Bergdorf Goodman tapped Fekkai to open a salon, an immediate sensation and the we being penalized because we do too many highlights or first of many high-profile Manhattan locations. Fekkai introduced his first product line in 1995, a pioneer because our hair is frizzy and we have to use a flat iron or in the prestige hair-care category. In 2008, the brand was acquired by Procter & Gamble, who expanded blow-dry it every day? It shouldn’t be a negative. How can we distribution into the mass market a year later. Today, the brand has estimated global sales of about $150 figure out how to handle this in a positive way? There are all million. Fekkai now serves as a consultant, playing a strategic and creative role in its development.

kinds of things today that allow us to do that. SULLIVAN STEPHEN BY PHOTOGRAPH

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It’s been a generation since a superstar hairstylist to say, You know what? It would be nice to be able to You are a necessity—and a luxurious necessity. who was able to build a commercial empire has drive your own car. How do you see the brand evolving? emerged. What’s changed since you started? How did you feel about the decision to pull Fekkai out I would love to see in my lifetime the brand become There was the era of makeup artists—MAC, Bobbi of global distribution? a megabrand, so big that we are able to develop other Brown, Nars. Right after that came John Frieda, I saw it coming. When I did the international categories in beauty. That is the dream. What else can myself, Michael Gordon and Bumble and bumble. distribution, I did it the entrepreneurial way. It was it do? It is a fantastic brand with great potential. It is We came at a time when we treated hair in a very like a puzzle, fragmented. We were trying to make it a unique brand. What drives me is to make sure my glamorous way. For me, it was a balance between work like this because we had no other way to do it. customer can trust the brand, my name, me—that she the red carpet and the fashion world. And also the P&G has a different, more efficient way—much more feels satisfied because we have the right product, the fact that we had the commercial aspect—the salons. coherent and consistent. Although it was strange right delivery, the right message. I love when people We were able to deliver services and experience as for me to see it coming, I appreciate the strategy tell me, “The first thing I see in the morning is your well as the product. Also, like everything, there are behind it. It is a step back to jump higher. Of course, name.” It’s great, and I don’t think you would say that cycles. I belong to a breed of hairstylists who have a emotionally, it hurt. if it’s a product you don’t care about. very classic education, [who] also did studio work. Were you supportive of the decision to create a two- Have you always been superambitious? And I was also fortunate to have the salon experience. tiered structure and expand into mass distribution? Yes. Ambition is a great thing. It keeps me thinking, By doing so, I was covering a spectrum of ideas and Very much. When I was only in prestige, I knew keeps me growing, keeps me fighting, keeps me addressing a much wider range of style. the potential was going to be too limited. I’m passionate. The minute I stop being ambitious, There’s much more of a bifurcation today between thrilled today that our product is in a much wider that means I’m getting bored. And boring, by the editorial stylists and salon stylists. distribution. For me, the only condition was to not way. People are afraid of using the word. If you are Exactly. If you look at the stylists who are famous, discount it and to not lower the price. To this day, we ambitious for the right reasons, it’s a magic moment. they are mostly in the studio. They don’t have much You’ve tried a full-fledged beauty brand before. salon experience. What has distinguished myself from Was the timing wrong then? some of the amazing talent out there is the fact that Totally. The customer has to decide, not us. The I really listen a lot to my customer. I always lesson we learned was too fast and too far. If you keep remember a great piece of advice Ralph Lauren gave doing it in a contained and measured way, why not? me: Don’t be only trendy—make sure what you do is But again, it’s about timing and delivery. It’s like a timeless. That resonated. I didn’t want to be known writer—you’re not going to do six books at one time. for one special style. The era of Sassoon is over. People You do one book, make sure it’s a success, then the don’t want one signature. They want versatility. What next one. Once you’ve done a book, you’re not going distinguished us is that we were creating unique to write the same story. You may have the same style, styles for each individual, and by so doing, created a but it’s going to be a different story. collection of styles that are distinguished. How would you describe your management style? Now that you spend less time in the salon, how do you It’s about empowering my people, listening to them maintain the visceral feel for what women want? and guiding them. To be a good leader, you have to To be creative, you have to evolve all of the time. I still bring your team ideas, some kind of a surprising love cutting hair. I work a lot with friends, customers, factor. In the corporate world, I do the same thing. Fekkai’s latest masterbrand, PrX Reparatives. on shoots. I don’t do it as much as I used to, but I like It’s bringing the chief executive and chief financial it because it’s no longer a necessity for me to exist. officers things they don’t have. They have so much I do it for pleasure and also it helps my team. I also fight for it. It is an uphill battle, because you have to they can bring to me, so I try to bring them ideas and transfer my creativity in many other ways, whether it’s deal with the retailers and they have to be consistent connections, because then they feel part of the team, the design of the logo, the packaging, the advertising, with us. If they want our product at our price, they part of the family. My management style is to treat the formulas. For me, creativity doesn’t stop at cutting also need to showcase it in the same way. everyone like I would treat my family. hair. I love that I keep my eye a little bit more neutral. You’re a master at creating an amazing experience in Do you have a mentor? Compare it to a cyclist: I’m not doing the Tour de your salon. What needs to be done at mass retail? I have a friend who is a mentor. He has a great, France anymore; I’m doing some étapes here and I’m a believer that you treat the customer with the open vision of the world and makes me see things there and it’s more refreshing to me. utmost respect. That’s what we do in the salon. I differently. I love the way he lives—not materially, Do you ever have regrets about selling the company? would love to reproduce that with the retailer. It’s but how he conducts himself and approaches things. I would say I have mixed feelings sometimes. not worrying about selling the product, because the Mentors are important. I talk to my friends about Sometimes I say, I wish I could see what I could do product should sell if you guide customers and you’re finding a mentor, which is not easy. My mentor on my own, continuing to grow the brand. But then genuine and trustworthy and generous with the doesn’t even know he’s my mentor. It’s not somebody I look at it on the other hand and say, I could never product and your story. For me, it’s about romancing who is named. A mentor is organic, it just happens. have the potential, the power, the resources that P&G the customer and delivering a surprise, a story and a What’s the next business you’re going to start? has, to do it as fast as they will do it. I would lie if I great experience. I love brands. I love beauty. I love fashion. I love style. said I don’t wake up and say, Shoot, I don’t have my Customers will spend dollars for their beauty if I’m taking my time, but I’m certainly studying things brand anymore. It is weird to not own your name. the product is right. If you start to commoditize, out there and looking at what is next. For me, there But on the other hand, I see some of my friends who you are in a battle of price. If you differentiate has to be a reason, something that satisfies my need, have their brands and when I have dinner with them, yourself by delivering great product, great ideas, my passion and my vision. It could be anything as they would like to be in my situation. You cannot have great technologies, great innovation, and you’re also long as it is enhances the lives of people. your cake and eat it, too. It’s wonderful to have been helping a customer create and own a good style, now So it’s a when, not an if ?

PHOTO BY STEPHEN SULLIVAN STEPHEN BY PHOTO able to sell the brand like I did, and of course it is true you’re not a product in a bottle. Now you are help. [Laughs] Exactly!

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AERIN LAUDER founder, creative director, Aerin BLACK BOOK Aerin Lauder Long lauded as one of the chicest women in New York, Aerin Lauder will bring her e!ortless style to a broader audience this month with the launch of her eponymous luxury lifestyle brand. First up for the multitasking mother of two: A signature cosmetics collection, to be followed later this year with personal accessories, fabrics and home items. Here, the native New Yorker shares her favorite resources for work and play.

Business Pleasure AIRLINE: British Airways BAKERY: Baked by Melissa The flight attendants are always inviting It’s fun to customize an order with and I especially love the English breakfast your children. The Web site is of eggs and sausage. great and interactive. BUSINESS TRAVEL CITY: Los Angeles Bakedbymelissa.com Even though you’re working, the weather BAND: U2 and scenery makes you still feel like BOOK: Ali in Wonderland you’re on vacation. by Ali Wentworth CAR SERVICE: Bermuda It is laugh-out-loud funny. Bermudalimo.com CELEBRATION RESTAURANT: CLOTHING STORE/BUSINESS: Indochine Bergdorf Goodman I’ve been going there since I was 754 Fifth Avenue; a teenager. It always stays the same 212-753-7300 and is always good. LAUDER’S EPONYMOUS MOBILE DEVICE: 430 Lafayette Street; OFFERINGS. I still love my blackberry. 212-505-5111 RESTAURANT FOR CHAMPAGNE: Cristal CLOTHING STORE/EVENING: BUSINESS LUNCH: CHOCOLATIER: Teuscher The Four Seasons Restaurant J.Mendel The perfect and ultimate gift. I love 99 East 52nd Street; 723 Madison Avenue; 212-832-5830 the unique boxes with flowers or animals. 212-754-9494 CLOTHING STORE/WEEKEND: 25 East 61st Street; 800-554-0624 RESTAURANT FOR Barneys New York BUSINESS DINNER: 660 Madison Avenue; 212-826-8900 ACME ZEZE COFFEE ORDER: Corner truck J.MENDEL The booths are perfect for DINER: Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen a quiet, delicious dinner. The homemade Oreo ice cream is incredible. 9 Great Jones Street; 2391 Montauk Highway; 631-537-9885 212-201-2121 FLORIST: Zeze Zeze is an amazing place to browse. More than just a florist, there are wonderful objects, photos Health & Beauty and antiques. DERMATOLOGIST: 938 First Avenue; 212-753-7767 Dr. Joel Kassimir HIDEAWAY: Parrot Cay Beach Bungalow 10 East 88th Street; in Turks and Caicos 212-876-3319 It is the ultimate hideaway. Everything is perfect— HAIRSTYLIST & the beach, the pool, the spa and the food. MAKEUP ARTIST: Parrotcay.com Paul Podlucky SHOE STORE: Christian Louboutin 25 East 67th Street; 965 Madison Avenue; 212-396-1884 212-717-6622 STATIONER: Smythson MANICURIST: I love stationery. I still believe in a proper thank-you Danvie Nail Salon note as opposed to an e-mail. I especially love their 766 Madison Avenue; 212-628-2123 mini-size thank-you cards. STYLIST: Tabitha Simmons 4 West 57th Street; 212-265-4573 She is feminine, modern and always VACATION SPOT: Aspen, Colo. has an effortless style. It’s a great family vacation spot. Something

Tabithasimmons.com for everyone. LANGE PAUL MITRA; ZEZE BY ROBERT BY CHINSEE; RUNWAY GEORGE BY EICHNER; PRODUCT STEVE BY PHOTO LAUDER

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AHA! MOMENT 1992 ON THE MOVE

DEBORAH MARQUARDT has Vera Strubi, Angel been named senior vice In the fragrance firmament, it’s exceedingly rare that shaped ring caught his eye. “He said, ‘I know president, content strategy a true star is born. Yet 20 years ago, Thierry Mugler’s what you’re looking for. It’s the star. It is my and partnerships, for Angel was launched into the stratosphere, shaking up lucky symbol.’” L’Oréal USA, responsible for preconceived notions of scent. Mugler told Strubi the fragrance must helping brands develop an It’s gourmand. It’s blue. It’s star shaped. become a classic and be beautiful, blue integrated content strategy Even still today, one bottle of Angel is and smell of childhood memories. across multiple mediums. sold every 10 seconds worldwide, and its And he didn’t want it linked to the Marquardt was previously the business grows by double digits. ephemeral world of fashion. vice president of integrated The story dates back to October 1990, Strubi found this a challenge. She marketing at Maybelline when Vera Strubi joined Groupe Clarins told perfumers that the scent had to New York-Garnier-Essie, a (today Mugler’s owner) specifically to be full of contrasts—fresh, light, warm, role that has been assumed create a fragrance with the designer. sensual, innocent and sexy. Olivier Cresp, by KAREN MLYNARCZYK.... “Mugler said to me, ‘I just want a very then of Quest, concocted a peony-patchouli JOHN HEFFNER has been simple, square bottle with my name on Vera Strubi in 1992, juice, which Mugler nixed due to the floral named president and general it,’” says Strubi, who instead suggested the year she created aspect. One year and 1,000 submissions later, manager of OPI Products Inc. that she take two months to delve into the iconic scent, she knew Cresp’s fragrance was the winner. Strubi Formerly the president and Angel, with designer Mugler’s universe to generate ideas. Thierry Mugler. says she had slept with it each night and never tired ceo of Creative Nail Design, Two months later, she was no closer of it. “It was a sign,” she says. Only then did she ask Cresp to add a He!ner will work with OPI ceo to resolution. “There were 100,000 stories which I could tell,” sweet touch to the juice—such as a hint of chocolate or caramel. GEORGE SCHAEFFER to manage explains Strubi, who presented Mugler with myriad options. For Strubi, the key lesson learned from the project was day-to-day operations and While gesticulating to explain to her that it was all marketing simple: “Even if you think everything has been done, you always also oversee global expansion hocus-pocus, Mugler looked at his hands. On one finger, a star- can invent.” —JENNIFER WEIL of the Coty-owned brand. PRODUCT PHOTO BY STEPHEN SULLIVAN; RUNWAY BY PHILIPPE COSTES BY RUNWAY SULLIVAN; STEPHEN BY PHOTO PRODUCT

ֲֲ֢֥֣֣֩֬֬֩֬֨֠֯ ְ֤֦֭֮֬֩֩֯

SPECIAL EDITION

DESIGNER SERIES

ְְֱֱֲֳ֦֦֦֣֪֯֠֬ ְֱֱֲֳ֦֦֦֣֪֯֠֬֠֩֬֩֫ ֱ֦֣֦֪֧֫֩֠֡

Exclusively at SEPHORA tweezerman.com

%%3*&20L[DLQGG $0  BEAUTY BULLETIN

Bold Strokes This fall, velvet is the dominant texture for makeup, ushering in a new era of sensuality and femininity and o!ering a marked contrast to summer’s shiny finishes. “Velvet, with its subtle sophistication, has a strong connotation of erotic femininity,” says Valerie Steele, curator and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Translated to cosmetics, it acquires a di!erent meaning, but with the idea of a velvet touch, you can’t escape the eroticism.” To that end, deep, rich colors and a plush finish dominate makeup artists’ o!erings, from lushly opaque liquid lipsticks in deep hues, like those by Hourglass and Shiseido, to Ciaté’s textural nail lacquer. “Glossy can be quite overt since it looks wet,” says Steele. “The velvet surface has a greater tactile eroticism.” —JAYME CYK PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOHNNY BUENAVENTURA / MAKEUP BY RIE OMOTO

Hourglass Mark Lip Estée Lauder Burberry Shiseido Opaque Color Ciaté Velvet Pure Color Sunday Beauty The Makeup Rouge Crayon in Manicure Kit Velvet Riley Velvet Velvet Lacquer Liquid Hot Sauce, in Cabaret Lipstick in Gel Eyeliner

Rouge in THREE; FOR SEE MANAGEMENT AT RIE OMOTO MAKEUP BY ONE MANAGEMENT; AT TOMASI MODEL: TALIDY WRIGHT ROBERT ASSISTANT: PHOTO SATO; YUTA MAKEUP ASSISTANT: Punch and Foundation Lipstick in Nocturne Violet Crush Royale Muse

%%3*%%2SHQHUDLQGG 30  LUXURY SKINCARE & HAIRCARE FOR NEWBORNS, BABIES & CHILDREN

www.lebebecoo.com 2651 Fairfax Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232 · p: 310.202.8700 · f: 310.202.8701 USA · CANADA · DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · ITALY %%3*%%/DXQFK:LQGRZDLQGG formula delivers a dewy coating. coating. dewy a delivers formula environmental stressors, thisFusing 12-shade vitamins cream C and E totinted protect moisturizer skin from arrives in a compact format. CRÈME COMPACT LAURA MERCIER sensuality. a leather note to add tonka bean notes with woody and vanilla amber- Code’ssignature amped-up levels of original, this contains intense than the Designed to be more ULTIMATE CODE GIORGIO ARMANI $84 lips supple. magnifies shade intensity andand leaves antioxidants, this lipstickultrathin pigments, hydratingReformulated agents with concentratedINTENSE LIPCOLOUR CHANEL TINTED MOISTURIZER Laura Mercier’s best-selling ROUGE ALLURE LUMINOUS $34 $45 cane. cane. of benzoin and sugar a balsamic mixed base fruity apricot skin with white flower amidst blends floral neroli and Colombian superstar sensuality, the Inspired by exotic SHAKIRA $36 ELIXIR Gaga’s scent. debut Lady LADY GAGA hierarchy. using a traditional each note without olfactive aspects of highlight di"erent fragrance aims to sambac, Gaga’s premier orchid and jasmine apricot nectar, tiger Fusing honey, sa"ron, finish. a silky and lightweight in an emollient gel for pigments suspended contains treated this SPF 15 foundation Available in 20 shades, FOUNDATION WEAR EVEN FINISH BOBBI BROWN man. that is the Tom Ford urbane sophisticate to evoke the refined, Indonesian patchouli from Madagascar and bergamot, black pepper Noir unifies Italian FORD TOM $90 $47 $79 NOIR FAME LONG-  What’sIn Store Rounding up September’s most innovative products. products. innovative most September’s up Rounding LAUNCH WINDOW BareMinerals foundation. first pressed powder SPF 20FOUNDATION hydrate the skin. skin. the hydrate encapsulated glycerin to mineral complex with combines a proprietary The 20-shade range its first solid foundation. makeup revolution comes started the mineral From the brand that BAREMINERALS appear brighter. lashes and make the eyes complex to saturate eye-brightening pearl GinZing features an and li!, Origins’ extracts to lengthen Containing natural plant MASCARA BRIGHTENING ORIGINS from Somalia. from China with incense Turkish rose and ginger Rose Anonyme blends from across the map. scent uses ingredients Atelier Cologne’s newestROSE ANONYME COLOGNE ATELIER GINZING $185 $17.50 $29

READY

acne marks. fades dark spots and and makeup primer this hybrid skin-care plant and fruit extracts, vitamin C, ca"eine and complex, a blend of Packed with c-phyte THAN APRIMER SMASHBOX spokesperson Blake as personified by Hollywood glamour, represents timeless and leather, Première with white flowers orange blossom fused Opening with notes of GUCCI Lively. ARTIST area. brighten the eye to correct, cover and shades of concealer contains three complexion compact pocket-size Benefit’s latest BENEFIT $30 $105 PREMIÈRE

PERK-UP $42 MORE wear. powders to achieve longer of pressed and baked eye palette is a hybrid co" ee bean–embossed Italian Roast co"ee, this Inspired by Geller’s loveIN ESPRESSO YOURSELF of EYESHADOW PALETTE BAKED IMPRESSIONS LAURA GELLER sandalwood, Coco Noir drydown of patchouli and with a floral heart and grapefruit and bergamot Combining top notes of perfumer Jacques Polge. in Venice inspired Coco Chanel’s sojourn CHANEL Venetian evening. evening. Venetian represents his vision of a $75 her own unique path. a woman emblazing blossom to represent and Tunisian orange patchouli, praline Julia Roberts, mixes fragrance, fronted by newest blockbuster introduced Trésor. Itsago, Lancôme Twenty-two years LA VIEEST BELLE LANCÔME $30 COCO NOIR

BY JAYME CYK JAYME BY

$130 orange blossom, jasmine Duchaufour combined Spain, perfumer Bertrand drama of Holy Week in and the dark, somber between carnal pleasure To reveal the contrast SÉVILLE ÀL’AUBE PARFUMEUR L’ARTISAN lavender. accord and Luiseiri $52 wrinkles and laugh lines. crow’s-feet, forehead this serum aims to reduce and Vichy thermal water, hyaluronic acid, ceramidesconcentration, along with rhamnose in a 10 percent Formulated with SERUM 10 VICHY LIFTACTIV $165

30 PHOTOS BY GEORGE CHINSEE

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t BEAUTY BULLETIN WWDBEAUTY INC 13

AVON ANEW CLINICAL LINE ERASER TREATMENT Inspired by Nobel Prize–winning research centered on blocking mechanisms of protein production, Avon created its first exclusive molecule, A-F33, to help stimulate cells to produce skin matrix components. $39.99

Perricone celebrates its 15th anniversary.

MAKE MATTE FINISH EYESHADOW, SATIN FINISH EYESHADOW, MATTE FINISH BLUSH FREEZE 24-7 PERRICONE MD H2O PLUS TOTAL LA PRAIRIE CELLULAR LA MER SKYN ICELAND ARCTIC This new cosmetics ARCTICLIFT FIRMING FORMULA 15 SOURCE NIGHT POWER SERUM MOISTURIZING SOFT HYDRATING BALM brand, founded by NECK CREAM Marking the 15th CREAM Total Source This serum incorporates CREAM Cryo-protective complex, Mana’s Nikos Mouyiaris, To tighten the neck’s anniversary of Night Cream combines a defense-fortifying Infused with La Mer’s a protein extracted from donates 33 percent of slacking area, rejuvelle, Perricone’s Face Firming marine flora, Japanese complex containing signature miracle an Antarctic glacier, its proceeds to We See an ingredient from the Activator, Formula 15 seaweed extract and thioredoxins and broth, this new format assists in fighting Beauty, a nonprofit cactus plant, binds with contains DMAE and sea-sourced pearl glutathione to reboot the delivers the benefits of dryness and supporting organization that funds water underneath the alpha lipoic acid to extract to help reduce skin’s internal systems by the classic Crème in a the skin’s natural protein women’s cooperatives in skin’s surface to plump minimize the length, wrinkles by neutralizing detecting incoming harm lighter-weight texture synthesis to promote the U.S. $12, $12, $15 and fill wrinkles. $95 depth and width of free radicals. $95 from free radicals. $475 more readily absorbed repair and rejuvenation. wrinkles. $125 by the skin. $150 $35

Every bottle contains 1,001 immortelle flowers.

RÉVIVE PEAU BLISS FIRM, BABY, CAUDALÍE VINEXPERT LA ROCHE-POSAY L’OCCITANE SHISEIDO BIO- MAGNIFIQUE COU ET FIRM DUAL- FIRMING SERUM REDERMIC [C] ANTI- IMMORTELLE PERFORMANCE DÉCOLLETÉ YOUTH ACTION LIFTING + Caudalíe has developed WRINKLE FIRMING PRECIOUS SERUM ADVANCED SUPER RECRUIT VOLUMIZING SERUM and patented a boosted MOISTURIZING FILLER To increase, protect RESTORING CREAM A blend of bioengineered Gardenia phyto stem form of its signature Inspired by in-o#ce and repair collagen, this Targeting three major ingredients helps repair cells and cell-targeting ingredient, resveratrol, procedures, this has contains immortelle signs of aging, this skin on the neck and peptides suspended for its new Vinexpert line, fragmented hyaluronic flowers from Corsica. has supercharged décolleté, smoothing in a concentrated aloe said to produce a visible acid, 5 percent vitamin A!er one month, 74 hyaluronic acid and a wrinkles, brightening dark base aim to deliver a reduction in lines and C and mannose to percent of women had patent-pending mix of spots and firming the firming e"ect. $75 wrinkles and improve synthesize collagen and a measurable reduction vitamin B and super area’s thin skin. $900 facial contours. $88 smooth the skin. $53.95 in deep wrinkles. $70 bio-yeast extract. $99

This heat styler operates at COOLWAY LOW HEAT no higher STYLER, TRANSFORM SPRAY than 299 Developed by an engineer, a degrees. biochemist and a hairdresser who found that water is a better conductor of heat than air, this low-heat flat iron replaces heat with moisture to style hair. The Transform Spray BALENCIAGA preps hair for the FLORABOTANICA low-heat styler Created to evoke an by temporarily SISLEY GLOBAL ORIBE SUPERSHINE BLOW PRO TIME LIVING PROOF PRIME 18th-century botanical increasing the PERFECT PORE LIGHT MOISTURIZING TO SHINE 3-D STYLE EXTENDER garden with only the porosity of hair. MINIMIZER CREAM To tame flyaways ILLUMINATING MIST According to Living Proof, rarest, most exotic species, $150 By inhibiting the and repair split ends, this This mist fuses shine six out of 10 women Florabotanica combines expression of the lighter formula of Oribe’s technology with white say their hairstyles last two accords—one of enzyme involved in signature moisturizing tea, chamomile extract only half a day. This vetiver, amber and aladium sebum production, java cream has soy protein and a pure protein blend silicone-free styler uses leaf, the other of rose, tea leaf extract regulates biopolymer, lychee to reinforce the internal a hydrophobic molecule carnation and mint. $125 hyperseborrhea so extract, edelweiss flower structure of hair, so!en to combat environmental pores are purified and extract and kaempferia the cuticle and brighten moisture and double the less visible. $210 galanga root extract. $49 color. $21 life span of a hairstyle. $20 PHOTOS BY GEORGE CHINSEE GEORGE BY PHOTOS

%%3*%%/DXQFK:LQGRZDLQGG 30  14 WWDBEAUTY INC CONSUMER CHRONICLES

LUXE BEAUTY WAL-MART

UNDERCOVER SHOPPER Shopping in the Heart of Wal-Mart Country New York transplant MARY MCDONALD goes in search of a new skin-care regimen in her adopted hometown in Northwest Arkansas.

moved from Manhattan to Northwest Arkansas (NWA) in my two Jason products with Kiehl’s Ultra 2006 thinking the impact on my daily life wouldn’t be all Facial Moisturizer SPF 15. The 30-mile-long NWA that dramatic. I had a good idea of what the college-centric, Fast-forward to today and I’m Northwest corridor along highway smaller-but-cosmopolitan town life was all about and I had past due for a shake-up in my Arkansas I-540 includes Fayetteville, the added bonus of knowing that my remote-working job beauty cabinet, which has become Springdale, Rogers and would keep me tethered to New York City. I’ve always been woefully bare. Bottom line: I’m not a Bentonville. NWA includes Ia huge online shopper, and knew any product would remain twentysomething single gal with loads outposts for 300 of the accessible at competitive prices via the Web. of free time and disposable income. I Fortune 500 companies, Working full time from home meant no morning hair and need a routine that fits into the realities of a including the headquarters makeup routine, no midday touch-ups, no rush to clean it off at 31-year-old’s two-career, two-kid, too-busy household. of Wal-Mart, Tyson night. For a few years, my skin and hair never looked better. As I start my search, I may be in NWA, but I don’t feel I lack Foods and J.B. Hunt. The During my first pregnancy, in 2007, I became addicted to for any of my former New York City conveniences. My go-to population is expanding Super-C Cleanser and Red Clay Masque from Jason Natural salon, Dead Swanky, uses Kérastase, and my retail staple stores quickly due to the quality of Cosmetics. I have never had more compliments on my skin Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn and Sephora, are at Pinnacle employment opportunities than in the four years I powered through two pregnancies while Hills Promenade in Rogers. My creature comforts are, of and the low cost of living.

taking prenatal vitamins, eating more natural foods and using course, attributable to the “Vendorville” complex of affluent, DON SHREVE BY PHOTOS

%%3*&&8QGHUFRYHU6KRSDLQGG 30  PHOTOS BY DON SHREVE %%3*&&8QGHUFRYHU6KRSDLQGG Avenue on the University of Arkansas campus. The Campus concept store at 616 North Garland the smaller, more conveniently located test stores. of my home because my everyday needs are met by big-box Supercenters that are 5 miles north and south minutes of my house. I rarely have to venture to the “Neighborhood Market” store iterations are within corporate headquarters where the “on Campus” and town. I live in a sweet spot of Wal-Martopia, near the is a store every few minutes as you drive through Wal-Mart definitely has me hooked and there literally is in Manhattan. The pricing and product range at Wal-Mart is omnipresent in the way Duane Reade priceherewas$38.Sold. than $40.The of Beauty Award and I should expect to pay no more on my iPhonetofindithadwona2008 better fit. Unable to determine the price, I checked Goetz and felt the Detox Face Mask was probably a a pricy new product. I continued on to Malin + available—always a problem for me when purchasing if I mixed it into my usual cleanser. No samples were $44, but she said the smaller size would last a while instead. The 2-oz. size was $24 and the 4 oz. was recommended a Rhonda Allison Brightening Scrub me away from SkinCeuticals and VI Derm and and need for a versatile product, the associate steered with the sales associate. pricing stickers and I had to consult several times were no products in stock. Many items were without testers and, for others, testers existed where there that several products lacked the uncluttered displays was and airiness. One drawback of feeling of relaxation, freshness product displays give Luxe a neatly arranged and organized space. The ample shelving with white-walled, wood-floored pouring natural light into the retail area has huge windows in describing my skin successes and failures. Luxe’s and knowledgeable and didn’t miss a word I said Arkansas. My aesthetician was amazingly friendly brick Ice House building near the University of dropping the boys off or just before picking them up. because any free time I have comes right after Proximity is hugely important to me right now is on the route I take to drop the kids off at preschool. spa in Fayetteville, whose new West Avenue location low. Atrueshopper’s paradise. of other fields, plus the cost of living is unbelievably sales, marketing, advertising, finance and a multitude headquartered here. High-paying jobs are available in service the likes of Wal-Mart and other corporations educated professionals whose Fortune 500 employers I kicked off my search with a visit to Luxe Beauty My first stop was the year-old Wal-Mart on A reality of everyone’s life in NWA is that After discussing my skin type, outdoor activity level Luxe is located below street level in the old life in Northwest Arkansas omnipresent here in the Allure A reality of everyone’s way Duane Reade is is that Wal-Mart is in Manhattan. Best product I need in stock and at a price that is either the in the years I’ve lived here and know I’ll find each quick sniff. I’ve developed a confidence in the stores hour reading packages and cracking open caps for a sucked me in immediately, and I spent more than an sheer variety of products and competitive pricing Walton Boulevard, across from headquarters. The closest thing Wal-Mart has to a flagship, at 406 South Brazilian Nut scrubthat I’d runoutofrecently. bath and shower products. I picked up the Tree Hut height beauty aisles turned up several of my usual shopping trip.Aquickpassthroughwide,lower- weekly and am always stopping in for a small or large across the street. I pass the store five or more times Fayetteville while my older son attended karate class Market store at 3475 West Black Forest Drive in Markets, so it’s pretty clear this concept is a work renovated Supercenters or newly built Neighborhood and narrow aisles are not what you see in newly a wall of glass at the front. The cramped shelving tiles and overpowering industrial lighting despite color palette is nearly all gray with temporary flooring 50 exfoliating cotton rounds for $2.17. The store’s Cleansing Facial Wipes for $4.97 as well as Swisspers’ Equate products. I picked up a pack of Simple’s 25 represented among the ample stock of Wal-Mart’s brands like Neutrogena, Olay and Simple well aisles of beauty and cosmetics before, and found and a wireless mouse. I’d never shopped the two mascara and eyeliner, plus pharmacy, milk, bananas need-now items a mom has on her list—sunscreen, size of a typical Supercenter, but it carries many 3,500-square-foot store is roughly 2 percent of the track. This discerning shopper is definitely aconvert. discerningshopperis definitely track. This surrounding population, I think it is on the right variety of locations more targeted to the immediately its smaller and varied formats allowing for a wider resistance to visiting its stores on a regular basis. With making an effort to overcome more affluent shoppers’ of future renovations firsthand, it’s clear Wal-Mart is Cleansing Cloths for $6.97 to use at home. for $5.97 to use on the go and Total Effects Lathering Regenerist Micro-Exfoliating Wet Cleansing Cloths with tax and shipping online. I also picked up Olay’s Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 that runs for $54.63 for $12.97 as a replacement for the Kiehl’s 8.4-oz. 1.7-oz. Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50 lowest or among the lowest. I settled on Neutrogena’s In visiting the concept stores and seeing the look My final stop on the megaretailer’s tour was the 

shopping experience. The limited and location than a pleasant on product assortment, size in progress, focused more beauty aisles of Wal-Mart’s dorms directly across the street. college women living in the me, given the thousands of cosmetics assortment surprised A few days later I visited the WWD  BEAUTY INC

15 ENTER NOW! S GIVEYOUR DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER28,2012 PRODUCT QVC’S BEAUTY QUEST BEAUTY QVC’S FEATURED BY RETAILERS BY FEATURED MEDIA BY RECOGNIZED CONSUMERS BY TRUSTED CEW.ORG FIND OUTMOREON Be Discovered and and Discovered Be Featured onQVC CEW TA SHINE! A CHANCE TO NEW!

R 30

16 WWDBEAUTY INC CONSUMER CHRONICLES

LAURA MERCIER SILK CRÈME FOUNDATION IN MEDIUM IVORY $43 “My daughter recommended this foundation,” says Mckenney. “I like it because it provides extra coverage.” CHANEL ULTRA PURE CREAM $20 CORRECTION LIFT Pierre washes her TOTAL EYE LIFT $100 face every morning Mckenney liked the with this cleanser and PLANTSCRIPTION ANTI-AGING silky texture of this loves how so! and EYE TREATMENT $43.50 cream when applied moist it makes her Pierre uses this eye treatment to before concealer. skin feel. erase fine lines. “I consistently use this and have found it makes my eyes appear very vibrant,” she says.

LAURA MERCIER SECRET CONCEALER #3 $22 DR. ANDREW WEIL Mckenney was FOR ORIGINS looking for MEGA-BRIGHT SKIN MAC LIPSTICK IN something to TONE CORRECTING SNOB $14.50 camouflage SERUM $55 Mckenney calls MAC dark circles and “I have dark spots, her go-to brand for pu"ness. so I use this to help fun-colored lipsticks eliminate them,” and said Snob was says Pierre. “They’ve the perfect everyday LANCÔME LE definitely gotten color. CRAYON KHÔL lighter.” EYELINER IN BLACK LAURA MERCIER COFFEE $25.50 SECOND SKIN “I’ve been using this CHEEK COLOUR IN liner for a year. This RADIANCE PLUM $24 shade of brown never The Nordstrom goes out of style,” beauty stylist used says Mckenney. this shade of blush YOUTHTOPIA LIFT during Mckenney’s FIRMING CREAM makeover. “I love the “I’m very concerned brightness and the about my neck,” says pop of color,” says Pierre, “so I make Mckenney. “It gave sure I apply this me a really nice glow.” every night.”

$229* $171* Total Spent Total Spent WESTCHESTER MALL, WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. SHOPPER STALKER * Pretax totals What’s in Susan’s Bag What’s in Margalie’s Bag On a rainy summer day, Susan Mckenney Margalie Pierre happily made the 45-minute stopped by Nordstrom to restock her drive from her house to Origins for her Laura Mercier foundation. When she was regular facial. “I’ve been using Origins for approached by a Nordstrom beauty stylist two years now and I come in once a month for a makeover, one purchase slowly turned to refill and relax with a facial,” says Pierre. into six. “I usually don’t have the patience The mother of three says she has normal when someone approaches me,” says to dry skin and likes the natural ingredients Mckenney, “but she was so knowledgeable.” infused in Origins products, as well as Although she arrived with only foundation the shopping environment. “I hate to be in mind, Mckenney, a receptionist at her pushed when I’m shopping, but I enjoy the husband’s construction business, wound atmosphere here,” says Pierre. “Everyone is up also buying blush, concealer, eyeliner, friendly and very knowledgeable.” While she lipstick and eye cream. At the counter, loves Elizabeth Arden and Mary Kay makeup, Mckenney sat with the sales associate, who Shopper: Susan Mckenney Pierre says her skin-care regimen is most Shopper: Margalie Pierre introduced her to some new products while Date/Time: 8.1.2012, 2:30 p.m. important and she is devoted to Origins. She Date/Time: 8.1.2012, 3:15 p.m. Store: Origins giving her a makeover. “When I’m being Store: Nordstrom washes her face in the morning with Origins Location: 25 Westchester Avenue, Location: 25 Westchester Avenue, helped with beauty, I look at the person White Plains, N.Y. Pure Cream, applies toner every other day White Plains, N.Y. and check out their skin and makeup,” says and uses moisturizer and eye cream. “I spend Mckenney. “My beauty stylist had a great complexion and beautifully applied about $260 a month at Origins and I’ve witnessed the benefits,” says Pierre.

makeup, so I really trusted her recommendations.” “I definitely don’t think it’s a waste of money.” —JAYME CYK SULLIVAN STEPHEN BY PRODUCTS JOHN AQUINO; BY SHOPPER PHOTOS

%%3*&&6KRSSHU6WDONHUDLQGG 30  OON AT OON AT W N I R BY KEV R BY I ALL GROUP W HE T AFAEL CENNAMO; HA AFAEL R LEY AT LEY AT I A B E K UPRÉ, GOWN BY BY UPRÉ, GOWN D EUP BY JA EUP BY K ABEL

David Suliteanu, S ; MA

president and ceo T OO

of Sephora Americas R

and the architect of I BY STYLED JED beauty’s most modern shopping experience.

%%3*;:(//6HSKRUDDLQGG 30  W THE RENEGADE ISSUE WWDBEAUTY INC 19 FORGING A NEW MODEL BY RESOLUTELY PURSUING THEIR OWN VISION OF HOW WOMEN WANT TO SHOP TODAY, DAVID SULITEANU AND HIS TEAM HAVE MOLDED SEPHORA INTO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BEAUTY RETAILER IN AMERICA. BY JENNY B. FINE / PHOTOGRAPHED BY JEFF RIEDEL

hat a difference a decade makes. On August 31, 2002, Sephora shut down its 21,000-square- foot Rockefeller Center flagship, a store that sources estimated cost $30 million at the time to build and was touted as one of the most daring experiments in beauty retailing. OON AT OON AT

W Fast-forward 10 years—almost to the date. The retailer has just N I thrown open the doors of its revamped Union Square flagship, R BY KEV R BY

I replete with manicure bars, makeover stations and a futuristic fra- grance tester that enables shoppers to choose a scent based solely on its olfactive qualities rather than the attendant marketing. The store’s ALL GROUP

W opening comes on the heels of other high-profile Manhattan renova- HE T AFAEL CENNAMO; HA AFAEL tions, each with its own play areas and interactive tools, be it a gadget R that one can wave over a customer’s face to find the perfect foundation LEY AT LEY AT I A B

E shade or a touch-screen computer that enables users to navigate through K the store’s skin-care offerings (more on both anon). UPRÉ, GOWN BY BY UPRÉ, GOWN D Store count in the U.S. has grown from 71 in 2002 to 321 today (plus 370 EUP BY JA EUP BY K ABEL S more in J.C. Penney doors around the country), and one month earlier, Sephora ; MA T

OO unveiled its first store in Brazil, an opening salvo in the world’s third-largest R

STYLED BY I BY STYLED JED beauty market, which remains stubbornly closed to many international brands.

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Sephora’s Dream Team: From le!, Julie Bornstein, Mary Herald, Sharon Rothstein and fun and ever-changing stores, independent of the merchandise and Margarita Arriagada. people. And fourth is the ever-growing importance of the digital world,” Suliteanu concludes, pointing out that Sephora launched its e-commerce initiative in 1999 and today is the single biggest beauty door in the world. While other retailers, from Macy’s to Dillard’s to CVS, have attempted to model the format, Suliteanu is clear that, in his mind, no one has been able to replicate it. “What you have is people who have taken bits and pieces of it,” he says. “We introduced fragrance by alphabetizing. Within a period of time, that became the standard. We introduced beauty to go. Over a period of time, you saw that happening,” he says. “You see department stores literally carve out a piece of real estate and take a similar fixturing approach and add a few brands and they cut and paste that. But no one has attempted to take that whole model, all four pillars of it, and implement it.” DAMONTE

E Moreover, based on the fundamental difference in mind-set between Sephora C BRU

and traditional prestige retailers (Suliteanu, a Macy’s veteran, calls department BY stores “brand-centric” and Sephora “client-centric”), he seems pretty confident no PHOTO PHOTO N one will. “Everything is designed to enhance the client experience—make it easier, I TORE

more fun, more exciting—and derives from our basic business model that is not AMEL H EE; S S N

brand-centric,” he says. I MMY MMY H I C

“There are no islands. There are no counters. There is no commission. That is not E G

the headset,” Suliteanu continues. “The headset is: What can we do that will excite EOR G BY BY

and surprise our clients? And because we’re not brand-centric, there are no limits. S T C TORE PHOTO BY J BY PHOTO TORE S

We can pretty much do whatever we want.” ; G AN That bluntness is typical of Suliteanu, say those who work closely with him. “He’s I A CH

very direct—a straight shooter,” says Ron Johnson, ceo of J.C. Penney. “You know IK ON NDERELLA PRODU

exactly what he believes in, and that makes it easy to be a partner.” M CI

BY BY

One of Suliteanu’s driving beliefs is that beauty and retail aren’t fueled by newness, S E but by exciting the customer with unique brands and in-store experiences, like Beauty SS Studio. Talk to anyone on Sephora’s senior management team and the mantra is a N WEAR DRE single-minded focus on the consumer. “Nobody is complacent about keeping her loyal I E to us,” says Suliteanu. “She has lots of choices. We have to work very hard to continue ST OTH Even Estée Lauder, the grande dame of department store beauty retailing, is to excite her. Passion for the client drives everything we do. If we stay true to that and R N AND

dipping its toes into Sephora by rolling out in 25 doors, 14 years after the merchant keep her excited and happy, we are going to do very well.” I TE landed on these shores. Suliteanu is so focused on keeping his customers happy, he created the Love S ORN Clearly, Sephora is a retailer whose time has come. The chain may not be the Meter to measure Sephora’s like-to-love quota with shoppers. B EDEL;

biggest prestige beauty retailer in the U.S.—with 810 doors, Macy’s still holds a Mary Herald, executive vice president of human resources and education, was I

commanding position—but it is the most influential. charged with implementing the idea three years ago. “When David first came up EFF R J

“Sephora is powerful in terms of headspace,” says John Demsey, group president with the idea, I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” she remembers, laughing. “How T BY I of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. “They define the white space, in many instances, in

terms of where beauty is going. They establish and reinforce beauty trends, which PORTRA has an influence on the overall general market. They are true merchants.” That leadership role has paid off handsomely. While Sephora executives adamantly refuse to discuss numbers, industry sources estimate that Sephora, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, does $2 billion in North America at retail. That figure would make it the second-largest prestige beauty retailer in the U.S., behind Macy’s but ahead of Nordstrom. David Suliteanu, president and chief executive officer of Sephora Americas, won’t comment on any sales figures. But he is quick to tell the goal: to be head of the pack. “The way we have positioned ourselves in the industry, to be leaders in terms of new thinking, new ideas—it pushes you,” says Suliteanu. “You want to work really hard to stay there. The opportunity to be number one in this country is a great motivating force.” Though there is a ways to go—Macy’s was estimated to have 2010 beauty sales of $3.25 billion—Suliteanu’s model for achieving his goal hasn’t wavered since he joined Sephora as president in 2000 from The Home Depot, where he was group president of diversified businesses. “Our business model is clear and based on four things,” he says. “We have always been about having an unbelievable selection of the best product—on the one hand, it’s comprehensive; on the other, it’s curated. The second pillar is people. It’s about a well-trained, caring and objective team, meaning unbiased. “Third is the stores themselves,” he continues. “We’ve always been about interesting,

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do you measure love?” The solution she hit on was to ask consumers two questions: not) to “What’s Hot Now,” the monthly callout of six products that Sephora has Do you love Sephora? Are we your number-one place to shop for beauty? deemed the standout launches of the period. Arriagada—a self-professed product When Sephora first started measuring love about three years ago, it was at 35 junkie who laughingly notes her bathroom is so chock-full of beauty goodies she percent, Herald says, a number that has risen today to 50. “What we found out is could charge admission—is in charge of choosing the products, a process during that when we talk to people, they love us more, and if we touch them and work with which she balances instinct and intuition. “We look for what’s buzzing in the market them and apply product, they really love us more,” says Herald. “It was so dramati- and what we anticipate is going to be hot,” Arriagada says. “We have to be credible, cally different when a client was engaged. but we also look at how our client is weighing in. What is she loving in our assort- “The other thing we found out is samples [help boost it],” she continues. “They ment that we can leverage and amplify? And then we balance the mix with unique love us a lot when they get a sample.” stories we think our clients will want to discover.” (When asked what categories she’s Vendors say Sephora’s singular focus on pleasing the client has created a cul- most excited about right now, Arriagada gives a shout-out to BB Creams and oils, ture of experimentation that’s unusual for a retailer. “They’ve got guts,” says Beth both for the hair and face.) DiNardo, global general manager of Smashbox Cosmetics. “David is really honest “They are so not complacent,” says Grant of Sephora. “They lead in terms of in- about what they’re doing well, what they’re not doing well. That sets up an ability to novation in the marketplace, as a lab for finding new brands and as a curator of DAMONTE

E C try things, fail, learn, move on to the next thing. They’re willing to put it out there.” brands and trends. Whether it’s the nail trend or plumpers or minerals, they are at BRU

BY “They’re constantly looking at what’s selling, what’s not, redesigning areas, the forefront of product trends, particularly in makeup.” creating the bestsellers, engaging the customer in different ways,” agrees PHOTO PHOTO N I Karen Grant, vice president and global industry analyst of The NPD Group. TORE

AMEL At Sephora, the client experience starts with the brand mix and it ore recently, Sephora has evolved its role— H EE; S S N

I adroitly turned an early liability—the resistance of many of prestige’s big- from brand curator to brand creator—un- MMY MMY H I C

E gest players to sell to it—into an asset. A decade ago, Suliteanu and his der the Sephora Originals umbrella, and is G

EOR team were forced to seek out indie brands, many of which have subse- also dipping its toe into brand acquisition, G BY BY

S quently become well established. “Indirectly, that reluctance set us up to as with Ole Henriksen skin care. In addition T C TORE PHOTO BY J BY PHOTO TORE S

; have a broader offering than we might have,” says Suliteanu, “and those to a broad private-label makeup offering, G AN I early relationships have turned into prosperous partnerships.” there have been collaborations with OPI, A CH

IK Today, Sephora sells about 200 brands and carries, on average, Pantone, TV reality star and tattoo artist ON NDERELLA PRODU

M 8,000 stockkeeping units in Kat Von D, and accessories designer Tarina CI

BY BY

S store (13,000 online). Margarita Tarantino, among others. The in-house- E SS Arriagada, senior vice president developed designer fragrance Marchesa is of merchandising, oversees the launching now, and a Marc Jacobs makeup N WEAR DRE I brand mix as well as the retailer’s line is slated for a 2013 launch in the U.S., E ST all-powerful product curation, to be followed by a global rollout. OTH R from endcaps touting “Sephora’s Favorite Sephora executives bat away the notion that such projects create undue competi- N AND

I Mascaras” (or eyeliners or primers or what- tion with their vendors. “We’re in a unique position as retailers because we see the TE S M entire spectrum of the beauty industry,” says Suliteanu. “Our decisions about where ORN B to play are very much based on having that broad perspective.” EDEL;

I As an example, he cites the Marchesa launch, which he calls “a perfect example of

EFF R doing something I’m not sure a big commercial fragrance company would take on.” J

T BY T BY “It’s hard for a big company to think small, and small can oftentimes be very I big,” says Suliteanu, when asked why the project wouldn’t appeal to a big com-

PORTRA pany. “Our primary business is retail, not wholesale. We don’t have a giant infra- structure to support, we don’t have huge R&D labs. Not everything we do has to be a 10 in terms of its commercial appeal, and therein lies the opportunity.” Sephora has also partnered with Pantone—“They are the world authority on color. Isn’t it natural someone would work with them to develop a makeup line based on their insights and expertise?” says Suliteanu—on both a color line and the Sephora Plus Pantone Color IQ device. The tool reads the color of the user’s skin and is linked to a proprietary Pantone database that connects back to the entire shade range on offer at Sephora and recommends the foundations best suited to her skin tone. No larger than a television remote control, the device epitomizes the marriage of product and in-store experience that Suliteanu believes is driving the business. While part of the customer experience centers around the sheer size of the brand selection, interactivity and play have become increasingly important. Top, the Disney Reigning Beauties Cinderella Two recent such examples include Ready-Set-Polish, in-store manicure sta- Collection developed by tions complete with video tutorials that enable a customer to execute her own Sephora Originals and specialty manicure in the middle of the floor, and the Fragrance Sensorium, a launching in October. Above, makeover stations bar where scents are divided into four categories—Playful, Chic, Addictive and at the Beauty Studio. Casual. The manicure bar is an all-store idea that is currently being rolled out, Le!, the Fragrance while the Fragrance Sensorium, which grew out of a pop-up concept brought Sensorium in Union Square. about by a partnership between Sephora and Firmenich last year, is being test-

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ed in New York City and Montreal. Then there’s the false-eyelash bar at Union Square, where shoppers can hold up wands with different lash styles affixed to the end to see how they’ll look in real life. “What appeals to our customer is the ability for interactivity, to play and discover,” says Sharon Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing. “That sense of involve- ment is critical.” She says this is particularly true in a category like fragrance, where undifferenti- ated marketing messages often drown out the core attributes of the product itself. “When we started the Sensorium work, it was based on the [period] when unit sales were down dramatically. If you look at fragrance marketing to consumers over a long period of time, it was remarkably similar,” she continues. “We were intrigued by the work Firmenich had done and thought there was a way to help reignite and reeducate consumers. We found that consumers were captivated by the chance to experience fragrance based on their own impressions, in an unbranded way.” Sephora garners much of its consumer insight from its Beauty Insider customer-loyalty program, which multiple vendors praise as being the best in retail. The cross-channel program awards users one “pretty point” for every dollar What’s Hot Now, above, they spend; those who spend $350 a year or more achieve VIB (Very Important calls out six must-have Beauty Insider) status. Rewards range from free products to exclusive classes to items monthly. Right, Marchesa, developed early access when products launch. Whereas in the traditional department store by Sephora in conjunction model, the timing of client reward programs such as gift-with-purchase is con- with Battalure Beauty. trolled by the store, at Sephora, the Beauty Insider program allows the customer to choose how, when and where she wants to use her points. “It’s trying to leverage personalization and offering different clients in different segments the right offers for them,” says Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of digital, whose purview includes Beauty Insider. Sephora has become adept at gathering information at a granular level and leveraging it, for both its own benefit and that of its vendors. “They give us a ton of data that we use to create and edit our assortment and for the Beauty Insider offerings,” says Maureen Kelly, founder and ceo of Tarte. “They’ll say, ‘We did a self-tanner sample and the feedback we got was that there wasn’t enough in the packet to do both your arms and legs. This is how many ounces it was, so when you’re doing yours, take that into consideration.’ So where we may have made the same mistake, they share information so we can avoid it,” she says. “That’s unusual for a retailer.” better storytelling for the category overall. “In contrast to makeup, which has a Tarte launched in 14 Sephora doors in 2003, and was in full door distribution in lot of brand identity and visual excitement, skin care comes across as somewhat five years. Suliteanu still attends market meetings and has been instrumental in the monochromatic,” says Suliteanu. “It’s about making the experience more interac- growth of the brand. Kelly recalls a meeting about seven years ago when she was tive—infusing the department with more visual interest, more storytelling, a little reviewing line sheets with him. “He said to me, ‘You have an ingredient story no bit less emphasis on product only. That you will see happen. Not just yet.” other brand has. You should be calling this out on your packaging, your Web site, your gondola.’” It wasn’t until David called it out that I realized I should be educating the consumer about this,” she continues. “In hindsight, it kincare IQ launched in late August in the Columbus Circle sounds so obvious, but it was a true turning point. He helped reposition store, and manifests Suliteanu’s vision of how technology can the company and the way I thought about it.” drive sales. “In the beauty world, most people have interpreted From all accounts, even with the growth of the company and his do- technology as video. Our vision is where you use it to enhance main, Suliteanu remains equally as involved today. “He still digs in at the consumer shopping experience,” he says, ticking off three the fundamental level of the business,” says Wende Zomnir, cofounder apps that are currently cascading into Sephora’s full door count. N

and creative director of Urban Decay. “He always asks me to think bigger They are: mobile points of sale, which enables sales associates, I N AMEL than I maybe would have, to think about things in terms of: How do we known as cast members in Sephora’s nomenclature, to make I H

make something that’s a hit even bigger? How do we build a million- sales transactions anywhere in the store; the Sephora Plus Pan- AMEL MMY MMY H dollar item? He is definitely a challenger.” tone Color IQ device, and Skincare IQ. I MMY MMY That trait will doubtless be in full force as Suliteanu and his team Skincare IQ took three years to develop and became feasible I TORE BY J BY TORE work to achieve their goal of being number one in the U.S. To do so, based on work done for the relaunch of sephora.com in April, S EE; TORE BY J BY TORE S S N I

they’ll need to strengthen Sephora’s skin-care and fragrance business- 2012. “The Web site is built around the core principle that all H EE; C S E N I G

es considerably. Sources estimate that color cosmetics accounts for 13,000 sku’s online are tagged with up to 25 attributes, to create H C EOR E G just over half of Sephora’s sales in North America, a figure on which executives an intelligent and flexible database,” says Bornstein. “It takes humans with knowledge G EOR

refused to comment. Suliteanu calls the development of skin care a three- to look at a product and understand it well enough to make sure that we attribute G HOTO BY BY HOTO

S P step “journey,” consisting of improving the area’s curation via merchandising them correctly. With the first versions of Skincare IQ, there were user interface A S HE techniques like Sephora’s Favorites; launching Skincare IQ, an in-store and issues and a question around the legitimacy of the product recommendations.” BY PHOTO C S AR AR

online diagnostic tool that helps consumers navigate through the sku selection, and Once the database was in place, the team was able to apply it to Skincare IQ M N

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ney stores a year, a pace that Suliteanu expects to continue next year. In the U.S., J.C. Penney has about 1,100 doors, and is itself undergoing a massive reinvention under Johnson. The ceo calls his vision a specialty department store, and it centers on drawing con- sumers in with nationally recognized brands rather than frequent price cuts and promotions. While Penney’s business has thus far suffered in the short term, the strength of the Sephora business is a reason for optimism. “Sephora was our first part- nership and it has proven out our business model,” says Johnson of the deal that was signed in 2006 by Penney’s then ceo Myron “Mike” Ullman. “We’ve got a long runway, because people are still discovering that we have Sephora inside of JCP. The way to optimize the business is to deliver this great experience and to add more offerings to our lineup,” Johnson continues. “We carry a strong lineup, but every time we can add something new, it’s another thing for customers to try and to use.” Industry insiders say the recent implementa- tion of the Beauty Insider program at Sephora in Penney’s is also critical to growth. One executive as well as other projects, and it is continually refining it. “As we started rebuilding estimates that the average productivity of a Sephora inside J.C. Penney is about 25 sephora.com, the focus was to build something that has tremendous flexibility and to 30 percent that of a regular door, but expects the figure to increase substantially. intelligence at the core so that you can change locations and interfaces and devices Suliteanu refused to comment on the figure, but he is bullish about the busi- and create a useful consumer experience,” says Bornstein. ness. Very. “Historically, J.C. Penney’s had only dabbled in the beauty category,” Industry insiders say that same level of interconnectivity will be needed at the he says, “and the fact that we were essentially given the keys to the kingdom— store level to truly increase cross-category productivity, a must if Sephora is to a thousand stores, many billions of dollars in opportunity—that is an amazing become number one. “In a department store, you’re training on all three and unique opportunity.” classifications—makeup, skin care and fragrance,” says one executive who requested Those same superlatives surface when Suliteanu talks about South America, anonymity due to a company policy that prohibits employees from speaking to the where he is overseeing Sephora’s expansion into Mexico, currently at five doors, media. “At Sephora, you have color people, fragrance people and skin-care people. and Brazil, where the first door opened in July at São Paulo’s JK Iguatemi mall They get no advantage in terms of cross-selling because the color people aren’t and five more are expected by the end of the year. Sephora tracks store openings going to take someone who came in for mascara and sell them eye cream. They by measuring sales in the first three days, and though, at 3,500 square feet, the are wildly successful, but if they were to figure out how to do the inter-sell—get the São Paulo store is far from the largest, it beat the previous record by 50 percent, customer from color to skin care, skin care to color, color to fragrance—they’d be according to Suliteanu. “What makes this market so amazing is the productiv- even more successful.” ity,” he says, “partly because the consumer is so ready, partly because there are Solidifying a strong position in skin care will also help diversify the so many of them and partly because the prices are so high. The opportunity to customer base, say analysts. While Sephora has done a superb job of achieve record dollar-per-square-foot figures is there.” attracting younger consumers—its average customer age is said to be Moreover, the absence of department stores creates a playing 28, versus 45 for a department store—some say that, as the consumer field extremely favorable to Sephora. Says Suliteanu: “There ages, she tends to migrate to department stores. “Sephora gets a younger is the opportunity we would normally have, and then consumer involved in prestige beauty in a very meaningful way,” says you tack on the opportunity that would normally Thia Breen, president of North America for the Estée Lauder Cos. be occupied by department stores, and you say to “We’ve always talked about how a younger consumer starts yourself, ‘It’s big.’” out in mass and then how does she cross the bridge into For many, it’s that global reach that solidifies department stores. Sephora allows us to introduce her in Sephora’s power both in the U.S. and abroad. With a fun and meaningful way to our brands. What we also 873 stores in Europe (including Russia) and 151 in know is that this customer graduates into a depart- Asia and the Middle East, along with the growth ment store world as she gets older and starts to that Suliteanu has spearheaded in North and South shop for herself, her husband, her kids.” America, the idea of total world domination moves Strengthening the productivity of the Sephora from the realm of cliché into actuality. “Sephora is units inside J.C. Penney will also help propel the first global beauty retailer,” says Sephora to its market share goal. Currently, A Ready-Set- a veteran industry executive. “The there are about 370 doors, with an average size Polish installation, long-term power of Sephora is that it of 2,000 square feet, versus 5,500 square feet top, and upcoming itself is a powerful brand which sells, Sephora exclusive for a freestanding Sephora; over the last couple products from creates and reinforces a variety of

MARCHESA PHOTO BY GEORGE CHINSEE; STORE BY JIMMY HAMELIN JIMMY BY CHINSEE; STORE GEORGE BY PHOTO MARCHESA HAMELIN JIMMY BY CHINSEE; STORE GEORGE BY PHOTO NARS of years, Sephora has opened about 75 J.C. Pen- Nars, le!. brands. That is truly unique.” Q

%%3*;:(//6HSKRUDDLQGG 30  2011 PRESTIGE BEAUTY PRODUCT MIX PRESTIGE BEAUTY COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY COUNTRY (based on sell-in) (based on sell-in)

100% % CHANGE 2011 VS. 2010 33% 31% 75%

21% 20% 50% 18% 15% 16%

25% ARGENTINA BRAZIL CHILE MEXICO PERU URUGUAY VENEZUELA 0% ARGENTINA BRAZIL CHILE MEXICO PERU URUGUAY VENEZUELA COSMETICS FRAGRANCE

PRESTIGE BEAUTY CATEGORY PERFORMANCE 2011 WOMEN’S FRAGRANCE (based on sell-in) TOP 5 PRESTIGE BRANDS (based on sell-in) % CHANGE 2011 VS. 2010 ARGENTINA BRAZIL CHILE MEXICO 25% Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Chanel 23% Givenchy Christian Dior Lancôme Carolina Herrera Kenzo Givenchy Christian Dior Givenchy 22% Christian Dior Lancôme Cacharel Donna Karan 21% Paco Rabanne Kenzo Calvin Klein Christian Dior 13% PERU URUGUAY VENEZUELA Christian Dior Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Yves Saint Laurent Lancôme Calvin Klein Carolina Herrera Christian Dior Christian Dior WOMEN’S FRAGRANCE MEN’S FRAGRANCE MAKEUP TOTAL BEAUTY SKIN CARE Chanel Giorgio Armani Paco Rabanne Jean Paul Gaultier Cacharel Givenchy

2011 MAKEUP TOP 5 PRESTIGE BRANDS 2011 SKIN CARE TOP 5 PRESTIGE BRANDS (based on sell-in) (based on sell-in)

ARGENTINA BRAZIL CHILE MEXICO ARGENTINA BRAZIL CHILE MEXICO MAC MAC MAC MAC Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Lancôme Biotherm Shiseido Clinique Estée Lauder Christian Dior Christian Dior Clinique Clinique Estée Lauder Clinique Biotherm Clinique Clinique Shiseido Bobbi Brown Estée Lauder Clinique Biotherm Estée Lauder Clarins Estée Lauder Clinique Estée Lauder Chanel Christian Dior Christian Dior Christian Dior Kiehl’s

PERU URUGUAY VENEZUELA PERU URUGUAY VENEZUELA MAC Lancôme Clinique Lancôme Lancôme Clinique Christian Dior Christian Dior Estée Lauder Clarins Biotherm Estée Lauder Lancôme Helena Rubinstein MAC Christian Dior Christian Dior Lancôme Clinique Chanel Lancôme Clinique Clarins Clarins Clarins Clarins Clarins Estée Lauder Helena Rubinstein Biotherm CHARTS BY COLIN TIERNEY; PHOTO BY CH’IEN LEE/MINDEN PICTURES/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STOCK; MAP BY MAXFX MAP BY STOCK; GEOGRAPHIC CH’IEN LEE/MINDEN PICTURES/NATIONAL BY PHOTO TIERNEY; COLIN BY CHARTS

Source: NDP from Segmenta

%%3*:(//&KDUWDLQGG 30  THE RENEGADE ISSUE In Development A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BURGEONING BEAUTY MARKETS IN SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

South and Central America are a bright spot in the global beauty landscape. and Central America double.” As these fi gures show, market patterns are While well-heeled travelers from the region are helping fuel sales in the U.S., emerging that are notably different than those in the U.S. In fragrance, clas- an analysis of sell-in information provided by NPD from Segmenta makes sic and designer names dominate, while in makeup, brands with a strong clear that they’re also shopping in their home markets. “It’s a very vibrant color ethos, such as MAC, Lancôme and Dior, are most popular. “Makeup market with a lot of opportunity for growth,” says Karen Grant, vice presi- has a younger orientation than fragrance, and fragrance has a very different dent and global beauty industry analyst at The NPD Group. “We talk a lot brand set than what we would normally see,” says Grant. “There is defi nitely about people coming to the U.S. to shop, yet we’re seeing shipments to South the opportunity to build revenue, but the competition is very different.” Q

MEXICO

#5: VENEZUELA 2011 PRESTIGE #1: MEXICO BELIZEBELIZE $92 MILLION BEAUTY SALES $273 MILLION HONDURASHONDURRAS GUATEMALAGUUATEMALLA NICARAGUANICARAR GUA BY COUNTRY (based on sell-in) EL SALVADOR PANAMA COSTACOSTS A RIRICACA GUYANA VENEZUELAVENE SURINAMSURINAM FRENCHFRF ENCH GUIANA COLUMBIACOLUMBOLUMB

ECUADOR

#7: PERU $26 MILLION BRAZIL PERU

BOLIVIA #2: BRAZIL $192 MILLION #4: CHILE $101 MILLION CHILE PARAGUAY

ARGENTINA #3: ARGENTINA URUGUAY $169 MILLION

#6: URUGUAY $44 MILLION CHARTS BY COLIN TIERNEY; PHOTO BY CH’IEN LEE/MINDEN PICTURES/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STOCK; MAP BY MAXFX MAP BY STOCK; GEOGRAPHIC CH’IEN LEE/MINDEN PICTURES/NATIONAL BY PHOTO TIERNEY; COLIN BY CHARTS

Source: NDP from Segmenta

BB1209-PG24-25-WELL-Chart.b;19.indd 25 8/29/12 3:47 PM THE RENEGADE ISSUE 26 WWDBEAUTY INC NO BED OF ROSES FOR MANY INDEPENDENT MAKEUP BRANDS, THE MODERN-DAY BEAUTY LANDSCAPE IS FRAUGHT WITH THORNY ISSUES. BY MOLLY PRIOR

DURING A RECENT MONTH, Marla Malcolm Beck, chief executive officer of the These types of brands now dominate specialty retail, a concept that once fa- beauty apothecary Bluemercury, sifted through some 50 new product launches, vored and incubated smaller, lesser-known lines. Newer iterations of the specialty only to find one cosmetics brand, Grace Choi, a line based on BB creams. store’s open-sell environment—including Macy’s Impulse Beauty, Dillard’s The “The thing I want most in this world is to be able to get behind a makeup artist Edge Beauty and Sephora at J.C. Penney—feature the grown-up brands from the brand,” Beck says wistfully. “When we have a new collection from a makeup artist Nineties, including Urban Decay, Bliss, Stila and Benefit Cosmetics. brand and it is done well, it sells out in two weeks.” Now, some of the most innovative new brands are descendants of mega beauty That lament is one frequently heard from retailers’ lips: Where have all the up- firms such as Tom Ford Beauty, an ultra-high-end collection created by the Estée and-coming color cosmetics brands gone? Lauder Cos. At QVC, the story is the same. “I haven’t seen any significant new innovation Bluemercury’s Beck lavishes praise on Tom Ford’s luxury message, distinctive or new ideas,” says Claudia Lucas, director of beauty merchandising. “I see lots of products, high-quality ethos and fashionable packaging. “It’s not niche, but it’s an brands, but the brands I see mimic what’s already out there. We’re in a slump.” example of how you nail a launch,” says Beck. “They did everything right.” The dearth of new color brands follows the indie boom of the mid-Nineties, In fact, several observers say designers such as Tom Ford—along with Dolce when the industry was awash with eager entrepreneurs bent on building million- & Gabbana, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent and soon Marc Jacobs—are replacing dollar businesses. Makeup artists, in particular, such as Jeanine Lobell, François makeup artists as the stewards of color innovation with tightly edited collections. Nars, Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier and many more, plunged into the business “The whole notion has been tapped out,” says Allure editor in chief Linda Wells in droves, charming retailers looking for newness and, in turn, the large beauty of makeup artist lines. “It’s risky and there are a lot of things that hinge on its suc- firms who ultimately acquired them. cess.” Wells, however, says newness abounds, albeit in unexpected places. “These But in beauty, industry dynamics can change as fast as a seasonal color pal- products are around. You just have to dig a little bit. They are in places where ette. What once was the land of opportunity—with emerging channels such as you’d least expect them—hotels, surf stores, pastry shops. It’s almost like the food specialty retail and TV shopping eager for differentiated brands—has grown into world, where a lot of brands are local and have an artisanal quality, and are sup- a powerful and more risk-adverse retail channel with assortments heavily popu- ported by smaller, local stores. That’s how they get off the ground.” lated by equally powerful brands. One segment within color that’s teeming with new players is the nail polish cat- The numbers paint a similar picture: Big brands rule. In prestige makeup, the egory, where new brands seem to pop up daily. “The lesson from nail is that color top 10 brands account for 78 percent of sales, which totaled $2.8 billion in 2011, innovation is incredibly appealing. The candylike quality of the nail colors makes says Karen Grant, vice president and global industry analyst at The NPD Group. them so desirable,” says Wells. She notes that four-year-old makeup brand Illa- She adds that, of the more than 200 beauty brands on the market, only about 70 masqua has successfully applied a similar approach, where color is king among a generate sales of at least $1 million. Grant reminds that this trend also held true narrow selection of cosmetics. in the Nineties when indies made their entries en masse. A number of the most interesting indie brands bubbling up are taking an edg- But what has changed are the names within the top 10. For instance, in the late ier, more artistic stance, says Misha Anderson, co-owner of the salon-apothecary Nineties, MAC Cosmetics, then a newcomer, ranked ninth on the list. Today, it’s Woodley & Bunny, naming Kjaer Weis, Rouge Bunny Rouge, Belmacz and Ellis number one. Moreover, brands such as Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier and Nars all Faas as examples. The latter is the namesake line of Dutch makeup artist Ellis rank within the top 10, says Grant. Faas, who “has pushed boundaries as a makeup artist” and funneled that into

PHOTOGRAPH BY KENJI TOMA

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PHOTOGRAPH BY KENJI TOMA

%%3*:(//0DNHXSDLQGG 30  28 WWDBEAUTY INC {Emerging} ONES TO WATCH a cosmetics collection, says Anderson, founded Stila, recalls that the exorbi- who sells the line at Woodley & Bunny. Environmental conditions for indie brands may not be as favorable tant cost of packaging forced the com- “When it’s given some attention, it as in years past, but the entrepreneurial spirit thrives. Here, influential pany to opt for paper over plastic. The does well,” says Anderson of the line. In indies, both established and emerging. —JAYME CYK decision was radical at the time, but it general, she tends to give new brands sealed Stila’s positioning as a quirky, three to five years to make a go of it— rule-breaking makeup artist line. “I an unusually long time. Anderson, who like to say, ‘Necessity is the mother of distributes some lesser known brands {Established} all invention. It forced us to be differ- to other retailers, says the economy has ent,’” says Lobell. prompted many retailers to favor big- For companies just getting started, ger brands. “Being a [brand] incubator ELLIS FAAS Makeup artist Ellis Faas based her brand on the funding seems to have all but dried up, is a risk,” she says. colors that the body naturally produces, from the peachy say brand founders. As Kilgore points color of a freckle to the cloudy purple hue of a bruise. For retailers on the hunt for new She designed the elongated, bullet-shaped packaging out, investors seem to have their eyes lines, she poses the question: “Is it an for portability. The line is sold at Space NK, Sephora and on bigger, faster-growing industries, innovative line that you are going to Woodley & Bunny. Prices range from $30 to $90. like technology. “I mean, how much get behind, or is it an innovative line did Instagram sell for, $1 billion? Who that you expect to sell itself?” She adds, wants to get into funding 500 stock- “It’s a real issue in retail: How do you keeping units of lipstick?” asks Kilgore. HOURGLASS Hourglass’ founder, Carisa Janes, fuses skin- support a brand that no one has even care technology with high-quality makeup to minimize the “For most, it’s close to impossible heard of?” visible signs of aging. Based in Venice, Calif., Hourglass to find funding,” agrees Carisa Janes, “There aren’t any breaks anymore,” launched in 2004 at Barneys New York and has expanded who founded Hourglass Cosmetics in its distribution to 330 U.S. specialty stores, including says Marcia Kilgore, founder of Soap & Bergdorf Goodman, Space NK and Sephora. Prices run 2004 and continues to run the busi- Glory, FitFlop and the Bliss spa busi- from $25 to $65. ness independently without a finan- ness, which she sold to LVMH Moët cial partner. Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 1999. To “It’s more than just having a good succeed today, Kilgore quips, “you have idea and putting your name on some- to have a rich uncle or you have to focus thing,” says Janes, who also was one on one product.” In Europe, her Soap of the original members of Urban De- ILLAMASQUA This richly pigmented British & Glory skin- and body-care brand— cosmetics brand looks to empower people to explore cay’s creative team. “It requires a com- which industry sources estimate gen- their alter egos through color. Launched in the U.K. in bination of financing, industry experi- erates about $110 million—offers a 2008 and in the U.S. a year later, Illamasqua is sold ence and a point of view.” As for what at Selfridges, Bloomingdale’s, Harvey Nichols and full assortment of color items as well. Sephora. Prices range from $14 to $62.50. turns retailers’ heads in today’s envi- However, in the U.S., where it is sold at ronment, Janes says: “There needs to Sephora, it’s positioned as a bath and be a unique selling point that is clear body range with one sole color prod- and defined.” uct, Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plump- Janes has been on both ends of suc- ing Gloss. The category is simply too JOUER Based on a “no makeup artist required” cess and disappointment. In the late philosophy, founder and creative director Christina crowded to import more, says Kilgore. Zilber created Jouer to provide mix-and-match Nineties, she helped develop a cos- Reflecting on the changes that have customization and portability. Jouer launched at Henri metics brand called Body & Soul that taken place since she launched Bliss in Bendel in 2008 and is now in select Nordstrom and launched at Barneys New York. As it Skins 62 stores. Prices run from $14 to $65. 1996 and introduced Soap & Glory a began to expand to additional retail- decade later, Kilgore says: “There isn’t ers, financing became an issue and that incubation period, because no one the brand failed. As a result, Janes is feeling generous in this economy. It’s says she takes a cautious approach to more competitive now in terms of [the building Hourglass, introducing only fact that] you have to produce a certain about four new products a year, each SUNDAY RILEY A!er establishing her skin-care amount of money per square foot or brand, Sunday Riley moved into color cosmetics a first to market. you’re out on your ear.” She also can’t in 2011. Using the same potent botanicals So, what garners retailers’ atten- help but wonder if she and her peers found in her treatment products, Riley’s aim tion? “You know it when you see it,” with color is to create makeup that improves had more of a stomach for sacrifice and the skin and is suitable for a wide spectrum says Lucas at QVC. “I had a brand in hard work. “My TV was the size of an of skin tones. Sold at Barneys New York, a couple weeks ago that introduced a iPad for many, many years,” she says Space NK, Bergdorf Goodman and Sephora. white liquid eyeliner in a pen form. Prices range from $26 to $58. with a laugh. We’ve seen a lot of that in black, but Survival, say entrepreneurs, de- not white. I thought, That’s different, mands a little bit of luck and lots of that’s edgy. And then the company funding. Those who have successfully launched their own brand estimate the cost showed us how it uses the product in editorial shoots.” of creating a cosmetics line today ranges between $200,000 to $500,000 for a Lucas says she and her team couldn’t keep their hands off it, and the product— tightly distributed line, and those figures do not include sampling, merchandis- whose name she is keeping close to the vest—will likely launch on QVC’s airwaves ing or marketing expenses. soon. Lucas has high hopes. “When my team starts to want to play with makeup,

But capital challenges can sometimes lead to big ideas. Jeanine Lobell, who we know we’re onto something,” she says. “We’re a tough crowd.” Q CHINSEE GEORGE BY PHOTOS

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ARDENCY INN LVMH alum Gilles Kortzagadarian and his partner, Stephane Siboni, have created a line aimed at music and makeup fans alike. Launched at Coachella in April, the collection o!ers highly pigmented, buildable color cosmetics. Modeled by emerging musicians, the brand aims to bring together two types of artistry. Ardency Inn is available at ardencyinn.com and will launch in Sephora in February with an additional 40 products. Prices range from $19 to $29.

CIATÉ Charlotte Knight, celebrity nail technician and energetic British entrepreneur, developed Ciaté to address the needs of both the at- home manicurist and the professional nail tech. A pioneer in textural nail lacquers, Ciaté launched in the U.K. in 2007 and came to the U.S. in January. Retail doors include Sephora, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor, The Bay and Kitson. Prices run from $15 to $30.

GIORDANO BEAUTY Makeup artist Susan Giordano launched her namesake brand and store in May. Giordano, a favorite of magazine editors and Hollywood stars, wants to create approachable glamour and transform runway colors and textures into easily wearable items. The line consists of makeup and specialty skin and fragrance items. It is sold at the Giordano Beauty boutique and on giordanobeauty.com. Prices range from $18 to $60.

LAQA & CO. In 2010, Georgina Hofmann launched Laqa & Co. as a canvas for emerging artists who express their work on its packaging (and receive a percentage of sales). Inside every box is a leaflet explaining the brand’s mission and where to find the art for purchase. The line currently consists of nail and lip items, and eyeliner launches early next year. Sold at Colette Paris, Kirna Zabête and small beauty boutiques. Prices run from $15.45 to $20.95.

GRACE CHOI Grace Choi’s interest in skin care began as a researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College when she was tasked to develop a gentler way to adhere electrocardiography technology to skin. Based on her research, Choi became interested in skin care and in May launched Porcelain Skin BB Cream. Categorized into pink, yellow and olive skin tones, the BB cream Choi formulated is universal for all skin types, she says. Porcelain Skin BB Cream is sold on gracechoi.com. The price is $34.

WHIP HAND COSMETICS Detroit- based makeup artist and aesthetician Riese Lauriat was constantly mixing pigments on shoots to make signature shades when she decided to create her own line. She abandoned the idea of private-label manufacturing when she saw how undi!erentiated most of the products were, and instead decided to source the line in her hometown to generate jobs and produce something truly unique. It was launched in May on whiphandcosmetics.com. Prices run

PHOTOS BY GEORGE CHINSEE GEORGE BY PHOTOS from $9 to $40.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE CHINSEE

%%3*:(//0DNHXSDLQGG 30  THE RENEGADE ISSUE AGENT PR OVOCATEUR WITHOUT RAISING HIS MÉTIER TO AN ART FORM, THERE CAN BE NO COMMERCE, SAYS PERFUMER CHRISTOPHE LAUDAMIEL. BY PETE BORN

hristophe Laudamiel may have each exuding a different fragrance meant to evoke a picture in the mind. Each his feet planted in a perfumery fragrance was based on a picture—a cartoon of a monkey with a banana from lab—sometimes until dawn—but The Jungle Book, a sensuous photo by Robert Mapplethorpe. But there were no he lives in his imagination. Char- visuals, just titles and brief descriptions. Laudamiel is planning another show in ismatic, passionate and not a little January at Dillon, but with a different concept. opinionated, he is a star perfumer For the future, he says: “The next frontier is when people are lining up the who sounds more like a weaver of street to go [to an event] because it is scented.” dreams than a mixer of scents. Noting that the brain is wired to link memories to scent, he predicts: “It will After making his mark at Proct- mark [people] emotionally watching the event and they will remember that their er & Gamble and International Fla- whole life.” Once people appreciate the communicative power of scent, Laudamiel vors & Fragrances, the 43-year-old believes it will be an absolute draw. “If you scent something that’s happening, Laudamiel has thrown himself into people will have to go and be there to smell it. the pioneering frontier of environmental “You have to raise the bar by showing artistic projects that aren’t about com- fragrance—scenting entire hotels, like the merciality,” he says, adding: “We are not just bluff or fluff.” Setai in New York; offices; stores, and even a Fer- His vision is that, by elevating fragrance, consumers will prize the experience more. rari auto showroom—with a driving ambition to turn the “The public will give more importance and more money to fragrances,” he says. “Just stirrings of a commercial category into a mainstay of tomorrow. Moreover, Lau- as now they won’t leave the house without their shoes, their handbag, their accesso- damiel, who abhors what he considers the industry’s complacency and insular ries, their earrings, so they won’t leave the house without wearing a fragrance.” thinking (he calls it “a Grasse-style village mentality of France 300 years ago”), Laudamiel harbors an ambition to have perfumery included in the American burns with an ambition to elevate perfumery into a high art with a capital P, put- Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass. As a stepping stone, he es- ting it on a par with movies, theater and music. tablished the Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics in 2002 with the hope that it Demonstrating that his ideas can get off the ground, in 2009 Laudamiel staged would eventually become a chapter of the Cambridge parent. “The Academy has his first “scent opera”—Green Aria—using perfumery to aid in the music’s storytell- artists, painters, architects, but they don’t have perfumers or chefs,” Laudamiel says. ing, thus crossing the boundaries between sight, sound and smell. An audience sat His perfumery academy has linked up with Osmotheque, the prestigious olfac- in the auditorium of the Guggenheim Museum sniffing through tubes a succession tive academy based in Versailles, France, and Laudamiel notes that he is scheduled of concoctions—fragrances, single notes, even the scent of a prostitute—as recorded to speak in Washington in September to members of Congress, consumers and in- music played. A total of 33 smells were organized into a kind of olfactive libretto dustry lobbyists about olfactory heritage and the art of making fragrances as part of during the course of a 30-minute performance. Laudamiel admits it was a chal- a program organized by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). lenging project, partly because the sense of smell is dependent upon the capacity for Nicolas Mirzayantz, group president of fragrances at IFF, is a fan: “Christophe respiration—registering one scent every four to six seconds. was always supportive of IFF’s creative initiatives and special projects and displayed And the smells had to seamlessly fit together. He explains, “It’s a scent opera, his sincere commitment to giving perfumery its right place in the world of the arts.” so scent number one is playing, then I create scent number two. When you cre- But when Laudamiel is asked what the industry needs to do to turn his vision ate scent number two, you have to take into account what scent number one was. into reality, not to mention fully recover from its previous decadelong market slide, Then you play scent number three, taking into account scent number two. Then his demeanor turns as combustive as the volcanos that once erupted in his native scent number one plays again after scent number seven. So now scent number Clermont-Ferrand in south central France. He contends that the industry needs to one has to be designed also depending on what scent number seven is. recruit better talent, spur internal competition to drive innovation, come up with “I had to manage 33 scents,” he continues, noting that all of them had to be safe, more resonant concepts, stand up for the creative process against both regulatory well formulated and stable. “It’s like a zoo of animals that you have to take care of.” and commercial pressures and inject more quality into the product (he fumes that Admirers say that Laudamiel is particularly adept at taming such projects. some commercial brands spend only $1 per bottle on the scent itself). “He brings creativity to a new level and can articulate it in a way that people can But clearly his top priority is education, asserting that the importance of olfaction get,” says Jerry Vittoria, president of fine fragrance, North America, at Firmenich, should be taught from kindergarten through high school, urging members of the in- which has an exclusive working relationship with Laudamiel. “He gets what’s dustry to visit their local schools and give talks and demonstrations. “We have to cre- needed to sell the whole dream behind the fragrance.” Vittoria says that Lauda- ate some educational programs,” he insists. “Everybody is taught a little bit of music at miel has a knack for pushing the boundaries of the art form and instinctively fer- school, a little cooking, a little fashion. Even if you’re not going to work in those areas, reting out the next “buzzworthy” project. at least you know how to appreciate someone writing music or what a painter does.” With the opera, Laudamiel was just getting warmed up. Most perfumers’ résu- Cosimo Policastro, executive vice president of fine fragrances at Givaudan més list fragrance triumphs. Laudamiel (whose bestsellers include Abercrombie Corp., says, “While our industry is not perfect, it is very inclusive, respectful and & Fitch Fierce and Clinique’s Happy Heart) also lists art exhibitions—what’s art places a high value on innovation and innovators. New thinking and creativity is without a gallery show?—which explains why he headquartered his company, what has driven the industry in the past and will continue to do it in the future. DreamAir, in the heart of Chelsea. At the Dillon Gallery last January, he put on While I may not completely agree with Christophe’s criticism, I respect his pas- an exhibition of what he calls “air sculptures.” The gallery was filled with six tents, sion for change and innovation.” Q

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PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTIINA WILSON

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Courting Success NINA JONES goes one-on-one with beauty entrepreneur SIAN SUTHERLAND. PHOTOGRAPHED BY NATHAN PASK

ffortlessly sinking a basketball into the net at a busy West London court, Sian Sutherland, cofounder and chief executive of Mama Mio, looks more like a sinewy Eteenager than a time-pressed executive. The secret to her lithe form? For the past 15 years, Sutherland has played as part of the Badabings, an all-female basketball team that meets weekly at London’s Little Venice Sports Center. For Sutherland, the “total mental break” from life as an entrepreneur first drew her to the sport. “You have to focus 100 percent. You run around, think about something totally different “It’s not about individual and at the end of that hour, everything feels more success, it’s about the team. manageable,” she says. Sutherland and makeup artist Louise Constad And it’s about everybody dreamed up the team after becoming frustrated by having a great time.” the lack of group sports for women. While neither Constad (who stands at five foot two) nor Suther- land (at five foot eight) had ever played hoops before, on her frequent trips to New York, Suther- land was captivated by games at the West 4th Street courts in Greenwich Village. “I’d walk past and think, Isn’t it the coolest game?” she muses. Back in London, the duo recruited a band of women, whose members come and go as their lifestyles demand. The team also has its own coach, Delroy Hall. “When we play, we’re quite serious. We have a laugh, but we want to get better, and learn and improve,” says Sutherland, whose teammates include pharmacists, doctors and fellow entrepreneurs. That ethos spills over into her ceo role. “[At work] I’m about putting together a team of really great people and bringing out their best,” says Sutherland, who, since cofounding Mama Mio, has helped build up the brand into 3,000 doors in eight countries and overseen its expansion into facial skin-care and body-care products for use outside of pregnancy. “That’s exactly the same approach as in a team sport. It’s not about individual success, it’s about the team. And it’s about everybody having a great time.” Sutherland is passionate about recruiting more women for the Badabings, which recently received government funding as part of an initiative to attract more Brits to sports. She believes basketball’s fitness benefits are secondary to the emotional payoffs—just as she sees her success in the beauty industry as being a by-product of “loving what I do. You’re at work, loving what you’re doing, making a bit of a difference. You’re building a great team, nurturing them…and, oh— maybe making some money!” she laughs.

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