In 2014, at the early age of 17 and accompanied by her mother Kris Jenner, Kylie Jenner embarked on her first, independent business venture by launching Kylie Cosmetics in partnership with Seed Beauty. She also invested $250,000 from her own income as a model. The company started out by launching a collection of three liquid lipsticks, Kylie Lip Kits, on November 30, 2015. The product proved an instant success with customers and each of the $29 shades were sold out almost immediately post-launch. By February 2016, the company had to ramp up its manufacturing capacity and within its first 18 months of operation, it had generated over $420 million in revenues.
In November 2016, Kylie Cosmetics ran its first collaboration campaign with Khloé Kardashian with the Koko x Kylie collection. After its huge success, the company doubled down by launching a holiday collection on November 21 which resulted in the brand’s largest sale yet, generating nearly $19 million in revenue within 24 hours.
In April 2017, Kylie Cosmetics reported over $13.5 million in revenue, largely dominated by the sales generated from the crème lipstick collection in collaboration with Kim Kardashian. In November, Jenner partnered with TopShop which sold Kylie Cosmetics across its 7 retail stores across the US. This was a major expansion for the brand since up until then, the company only operated with customers directly. The company would go on to make several other collaborations with Kris Jenner, Khloé, and Kim Kardashian. They were huge successes and dominated their respective sales figures with each launch.
In July 2018 and at the age of 20, Jenner became the youngest person to be listed in the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women with an estimated net worth of nearly $900 million. In November 2018, Kylie Cosmetics further ramped up its retail and digital expansions by partnering up with Ulta Beauty and launching a mobile app in the same month. By the end of the year, the company had estimated annual revenue of over $360 million with the company standing at a valuation of nearly $900 million.
By September 2019, Jenner had successfully expanded her brand into skincare and personal fragrances. In November, Coty bought out a 51% majority stake in the company in a deal worth approximately $600 million. This deal put the company at a $1.2 billion valuation and pushed Jenner’s net worth over the billion-dollar mark.
However, in 2020, Forbes reported that the Coty deal also highlighted that Jenner’s business had actually been much less profitable than what she had publicly stated. The company revised her net worth to $900 million, thus stripping her of the billionaire’s title.
Kylie Jenner continues to expand her business empire by launching new product lines like Kylie Swim, a swimwear line, in August 2021, and Kylie Baby, a skincare product line for babies, in September 2021.
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Kylie Cosmetics, LLC is an American cosmetics company founded by Kylie Jenner.[1] The company began selling Kylie Lip Kits, a liquid lipstick and lip liner set, on November 30, 2015.[2] Formerly known as Lip Kit by Kylie, the company was renamed Kylie Cosmetics in 2016.
In 2018, Forbes reported that the company was valued at $800 million and in March 2019 valued the company at $900 million.[3][4] Coty bought a 51% controlling stake in the company for $600 million in November 2019 valuing the company at approximately $1.2 billion.[5][6] However, in early 2020 Forbes reported—citing documentation from the Coty deal—that Kylie Cosmetics had overvalued itself.[7]
Background
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In 2014, Jenner and her mother Kris Jenner founded Kylie Cosmetics in partnership with Seed Beauty.[8] The company's first product named Lip Kits, consisting of a liquid lipstick and lip liner, were released on November 30, 2015.[2] The first 15,000 lip kits were produced by Seed Beauty and funded by Jenner at a cost of $250,000 from her modelling earnings.[3] The company was renamed Kylie Cosmetics in February 2016, and production was increased to 500,000 kits.[3] By the end of 2016, the company's total revenue was over $300 million.[3]
Jenner has used her former insecurity about her lip size as an inspiration for the brand, saying, "It's the most authentic thing I've done in my career".[9] Many attribute the brand's success to Jenner's cosmetically altered lips.[10]
Business
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Collaborations and collections
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In April 2017, Jenner announced her collaboration with Kim Kardashian, called KKW X Kylie.[11][12] In May, it was announced that Khloé Kardashian would be collaborating once again with the brand for a collection titled Koko.[13] In a month long pop-up event in November of the same year, seven TopShop stores across the US sold Kylie Cosmetics products.[14] In November 2018, Kylie Cosmetics products were made available for purchase at Ulta.
In April 2018, Jenner announced a collaboration with her half-sister Kourtney Kardashian, named Kourt X Kylie.[15] On May 9, 2018, Kylie and Kris Jenner announced their collaboration called the Kris Kollection via Instagram. The Mini Lip Set in the Kris Kollection, which includes eight mini liquid lipsticks, is aptly named “Momager”, a title in which Kris Jenner has personally taken on, and attempted to trademark, in recent years.[16] In addition to the "Momager" Lip Kit, the Kris Kollection includes lip glosses and a four pan pressed powder highlight/blush palette, which has created a lot of controversy online with both good and bad reviews.[17] The collection was released just prior to Mother's Day.[18]
In 2019, Kylie announced her collaboration with Oliver Rousteing named Kylie X Balmain. It launched on September 27 of that year.[19] In 2020, Kylie Cosmetics released a collaboration with The Grinch for Christmas.[20] In October 2021, Kylie Cosmetics released a A Nightmare on Elm Street collaboration for Halloween.[21][22] On October 19, 2022, Kylie Cosmetics released a collaboration with Batman named Batman x Kylie.[23]
Non-collaborative collections
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In February 2018, Jenner released Kylie Cosmetics’ first non-collaborative collection named Weather. Jenner explained the collection is an ode to her daughter, Stormi, who inspired the collection and was born earlier that month.[24][25]
Pop-up locations
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Jenner previously made appearances at pop-up shops which were located inside Topshops.[26]
Packaging
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The 2016 redesign of the Kylie Lip Kit packagingIn May 2016, Kylie Cosmetics changed the packaging of its Lip Kits due to complaints of theft. Due to the easily recognizable packaging and high demand for the product at the time, some customers received empty boxes after having their products stolen in the mailing process. The original Kylie Lip Kit box was black with a white lip gloss drip design. In order to solve the theft issue, the boxes were changed to a basic black, and the recognizable lip gloss design was moved to the inside of the box.[27]
In the April 2018 release of the Kourt X Kylie Collection, Kylie Cosmetics included eyeshadow palettes with brand new plastic packaging rather than the traditional cardboard packaging.[28]
Marketing
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While Jenner or members of her family often serve as models of Kylie Cosmetics, the pair of lips that advertise the Lip Kits themselves belong to beauty and lifestyle blogger Ashley Rosales. Before entering the beauty community, Ashley Rosales served in the United States Army as a mechanic.[29] Jenner revealed that she has enlisted her housekeeper and her boyfriend Travis Scott to model swatches of the makeup on their arms for social media advertisements.[30]
Criticism
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"Luxury" brush scandal
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In an occurrence dubbed by Cosmopolitan Australia as the "Kylie makeup brush scandal of 2017", Jenner received backlash from fans, makeup gurus, and Internet users alike after Kylie Cosmetics launched a set of 16 luxury makeup brushes, priced at $360.[31] After a few prominent YouTubers, including James Charles and Jeffree Star weighed in with their negative opinions on the price of the brush kit, Jenner responded via her personal Twitter, telling fans, "I hear you guys".[32]
All 30 shades of Kylie Cosmetics' controversial concealer lineSkin Concealer controversy
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After the release of their concealer line, named Skin Concealer, Kylie Cosmetics received negative feedback from Internet users who claimed the company was copying Rihanna’s makeup line, Fenty Beauty. Though the intention of the makeup line was to remain inclusive, it was assumed by some that Jenner was profiting from diversity by including 30 shades in her concealer line.[33]
It was also observed that all of the darker shades had red undertones, as explicitly described on the Kylie Cosmetics website, prompting the criticism that it did not cater to all skin types.[34]
Eyeshadow Palette controversy
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Back in 2017, Kylie Cosmetics received backlash after clients began reporting a strange and concerning smell from the brand's Royal Peach Eyeshadow Palette. This pungent smell was described as having a "chemical and glue" smell, with many comparing it to "spray paint" and "paint thinner".[35]
"Provocative" blushes
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The release of Kylie Cosmetics' March 2018 line of blushes sparked anger among some fans who thought that the names of some of the new products, such as "Barely Legal", "Virginity", "X Rated", and "Hot and Bothered", were too provocative, especially for Jenner's younger fans.[36]
Company overvaluation
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On April 8, 2020, Forbes again named Jenner as the world's youngest "self made" billionaire, citing her net worth having increased to $1.2 billion.[37] However, in May, Forbes released a statement accusing Jenner of forging tax documents so she would appear as a billionaire. The publication also accused her of fabricating revenue figures for Kylie Cosmetics, citing documents Coty Inc (which had acquired a majority stake in Kylie Cosmetics) had released. The Forbes article concluded that Kylie Cosmetics was significantly smaller and less profitable than previously reported.[38]
See also
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References
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