Brand news: L'Oréal Group x Miu Miu; Coty x Marni; Estée Lauder Companies; Natura & Co & more
L'Oréal Group signs license agreement with Miu Miu
After its agreement with Prada last year, the French beauty multinational revealed that it has signed a long-term, worldwide licensing agreement with the luxury Italian fashion label for the creation, development and distribution of the Miu Miu brand luxury beauty products.
Miu Miu: the nickname of fashion designer Miuccia Prada is a spin-off of the Prada brand that was launched in 1993. It’s viewed as more of a ‘maverick’ as it takes a more experimental and creative slant in comparison’s Prada’s more classic approach.
In its press communication, L'Oréal Group shared that “Miu Miu joins the L'Oréal Luxe division to write its new chapter in the world of beauty”. It said this followed its “successful collaboration with the Prada brand”.
In July 2023, the L'Oréal Group partnered with Prada to launch makeup and skin care ranges via a licensing agreement.
The agreement is awaiting regulatory approvals before it comes into effect and the first fragrances launched by L'Oréal Groupe are not expected until 2025.
President of L'Oréal Luxe, Cyril Chapuy, said: “With its singular positioning, driven by its boundless and experimental creative essence, Miu Miu will perfectly complement L'Oréal Luxe's portfolio of iconic brands, reinforcing its position as the world leader in fragrance."
Meanwhile CEO of Miu Miu, Benedetta Petruzzo, stated that: “This new chapter will support the growth of the brand and help unleash the full potential of Miu Miu in this world."
Coty signs license agreement with Marni
Coty has also just signed a licensing agreement with another luxury Italian fashion brand: Marni.
This new license will allow the multinational beauty business to develop, produce, and distribute a line of fragrances and cosmetic products beyond 2040.
Coty’s CEO Sue Nabi, said the licensing agreement “aligns with Coty’s highly successful strategic direction of focusing on fashion driven licenses with multi category potential that resonate across key markets.”
The first offering under the agreement is expected to launch in 2026.
Through the agreement with Marni, Coty also strengthens its partnership with OTB Group, following the recent license renewal with the Jil Sander brand.
"This long-term vision agreement gives Marni the opportunity to shape its values in new creative ways and to strengthen its luxury positioning by landing in the world of beauty and fragrances", said OTB Group CEO, Ubaldo Minelli.
Natura &Co considering independently listing Avon
Brazilian beauty company Natura &Co said it is considering separating Natura &Co Latam and Avon into two independently listed companies that are publicly traded, with their own governance and management teams.
If this goes ahead, it would mean that Avon would own and operate the Avon business globally, except for in Latin America, where Natura & Co would still continue to operate the brand.
Natura &Co said that the assessment was part of its ongoing strategy to simplify its corporate structure. Last year, the company sold Aesop to L'Oréal Group and The Body Shop to private equity firm Aurelius.
Estée Lauder Companies set to make widespread job cuts
The beauty multinational is set to cut 3,100 jobs due to consistently declining sales.
Sales fell by 7% to $4.28bn in the three months up to 31 December 2023, with organic sales also down 8%.
The business said it had been impacted by challenges in Asia’s once buoyant travel-retail sector.
But its Skincare and Colour Cosmetics categories saw sales declines too, even for once-successful brands such as MAC.
Even the resilient Fragrance sector saw a flat performance in Q2, despite strong success for its prestige brands Le Labo and Jo Malone London
The company has hired global consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal to advise during the restructure, which is likely to remove roles, as well as redeploy some staff members to other areas of the business.
ELC’s president and CEO, Fabrizio Freda, said the move was a “difficult decision”, but necessary for more “sustainable profitability”.
Manzanita Capital acquires fragrance brand D.S. & Durga
The UK private equity firm Manzanita Capital, which owns Space NK, Malin+Goetz, and Diptique, has just acquired a majority stake in niche fragrance brand D.S. & Durga, which is based in New York.
The brand’s founders Kavi and David Seth Moltz will stay in their current roles and minority stakeholder, Monogram Capital, which invested in the brand in 2018, will also remain as a stakeholder.
The company now plans international expansion.
It saw previous success with the cult perfume brand Byredo, which it invested in and then sold to the Spanish multinational Puig in 2022 for around $1bn.
