With the creation of Kering Beauté, a brand-new business, the French luxury conglomerate Kering hopes to place a stronger emphasis on beauty. The creation of the new beauty category is intended to help Kering companies like Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen create their own cosmetics. Raffaella Cornaggia, a longtime executive of the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, has just been appointed as the new CEO of Kering Beauté. Jean-François Palus, the managing director, will be Cornaggi’s boss. After graduating from Milan’s esteemed Bocconi University and beginning her work there, Cornaggia has a long history in the beauty industry. She worked on the Tom Ford Beauty, MAC Cosmetics, Aerin, and name-brand lines at Estée Lauder Companies. In the past, Kering has made suggestions that it wants to increase its market share in the beauty industry. In recent months, Kering has adopted a more aggressive strategy to bring the majority of its brand’s beauty in-house.
BEAUTY
I am delighted to welcome Raffaella Cornaggia, who brings us considerable experience in a segment that we see as strategically important for our Houses. We are building this new area of expertise within our Group to ensure that our brands can fulfill their potential in this category. – Jean-François Palus, Group Managing Director
Thanks to Christian Dior in the 1980s, rival giant LVMH has seen enormous success in the fashion and cosmetics industries. The company has now grown the beauty brand, which offers skincare, cosmetics, and fragrance products, into a multibillion dollar enterprise. L’Oréal has been Yves Saint Laurent‘s longtime business partner in the beauty industry, helping to develop the company into a major player in cosmetics and fragrance. The announcement to create Kering Beauté now excludes the Italian luxury brand due to Kering’s deal with Coty, which is the beauty partner for Gucci beauty. However, the business makes hints at regaining control of additional beauty categories for its brands in the future. As a logical extension of these brands’ universes, the new division is stated to “help these brands in the development of the beauty category. In a way that is totally compatible with their strategy and market positioning, Kering is certain that it can create value for the group and its houses.
