People Moves, August 2026: Coty, John Lewis, Allies of Skin and more...

August 2026 saw leadership changes across the beauty industry, including new Chief Executives and Chief Financial Officers, a newly created Chief Operating Officer role at one of its biggest names, senior moves at independent brands and a change at the top of John Lewis.

The month also brought two high-profile ambassador announcements, with Moroccanoil signing world No. 1 tennis player Aryna Sabalenka and Kate Winslet renewing her partnership with Oslo Skin Lab. Here is TheIndustry.beauty's round-up of the appointments and departures from the month.

Oriflame appoints former L'Oréal executive as CEO

Oriflame, the Swedish beauty and wellbeing company, named Kenneth Benaim Campbell as Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Anna Malmhake after her three-year tenure. Benaim Campbell brings more than 30 years of international leadership experience, including 27 years at L'Oréal, where he last served as CEO for L'Oréal D/A/CH, and most recently led Europe and North America at Lipton Teas & Infusions. He joins as Oriflame approaches its 60th anniversary and continues its business transformation, with Chairman Robert Bensoussan describing him as "an exceptional international leader with deep beauty industry expertise". 

LVMH Beauty creates COO role for Alexandre Oulès

LVMH Beauty appointed Alexandre Oulès, the former COO of Balenciaga, as its new Chief Operating Officer, creating a position within an organisational restructure led by Véronique Courtois, President and CEO of the group's beauty division and Parfums Christian Dior. Oulès will be responsible for production, logistics and procurement, with a mission to support the division's profitability and growth. He spent the last three years at Balenciaga and previously held senior roles at Moët Hennessy, Celine and Guerlain, where he spent 14 years. 

Coty names Soraya Benchikh Chief Financial Officer

Coty appointed former British American Tobacco and Diageo executive Soraya Benchikh as Chief Financial Officer from 1 September, replacing Laurent Mercier, who had held the role since February 2021. The appointment forms part of wider changes to Coty's senior team under its Coty.Curated strategy, with Executive Chairman and Interim CEO Markus Strobel calling Benchikh "the right leader for Coty's next phase". The news arrived alongside fourth-quarter results showing revenue of $1.27 billion, ahead of forecasts, while the group's net loss more than doubled to $144.3 million, with tariffs, lower volumes and excess inventory hurting profitability.

Peter Ruis steps down at John Lewis as Will Kernan takes over

Peter Ruis will leave his position as Managing Director of John Lewis, with Will Kernan, a Partnership board member, set to take over in mid-September ahead of the retailer's peak trading period. Ruis, who returned to the business in January 2024, oversaw the restoration of the Never Knowingly Undersold promise, a digital upgrade and expanded beauty services, and leaves as John Lewis invests £50 million across five stores as part of an £800 million transformation programme. Kernan brings 35 years of retail experience from River Island, The White Company, Wiggle and New Look. He joined the Partnership as a Non-Executive Director in 2023.

Allies of Skin founder Nicolas Travis to exit

Nicolas Travis will leave Allies of Skin, the luxury skincare company based in Singapore that he founded in 2016, while beauty executive Alicia Valencia joins as interim President. Travis, who also serves as Chief Executive, has given six months' notice and will leave on 10 February 2027, a decade after launching the brand. Valencia arrives with deep experience in brand building and international expansion, having left her role as Global President of Makeup by Mario in January 2026 and previously spending 20 years managing brands within The Estée Lauder Companies, including Crème de la Mer and Jo Malone London.

Westman Atelier's EMEA General Manager departs

Anna Marcovici is stepping down as General Manager for EMEA at Westman Atelier at the end of summer after 6.5 years, to focus on scaling Manifesto Nutrition, the supplements business she founded in 2019 specialising in vitamin gummies for women in perimenopause and menopause. Confirming the news on LinkedIn, she described her time at the brand as "undoubtedly the highlight of my career". Marcovici was previously CEO of FaceGym and General Manager at NARS UK and Ireland. Westman Atelier has yet to announce a replacement.

Omorovicza hires Emma Bates as Chief Financial & Operating Officer

Luxury skincare brand Omorovicza appointed Emma Bates as Chief Financial & Operating Officer, continuing a series of senior hires at the Budapest-founded business. Bates comes to Omorovicza from S'able Labs, founded by Idris and Sabrina Elba. At the skincare company, she held the same combined remit, and was previously COO at Crabtree & Evelyn and Head of Finance at Uniqlo Europe. Her arrival follows the appointment of former Sol de Janeiro UK boss Pauline Singh as Chief Marketing Officer in March 2026.

m.ph beauty appoints its first marketing chief

Mary Phillips's makeup brand, m.ph beauty, named Kira Jackson as Chief Marketing Officer around a year after launching direct-to-consumer and entering Sephora. Jackson was most recently Chief Brand Officer at activewear label SET Active and sits on the board of growth equity firm RX3 Growth Partners. She will lead marketing as the brand moves beyond its launch phase and expands its Sephora distribution.

Moroccanoil signs Aryna Sabalenka as Global Brand Ambassador

Moroccanoil appointed tennis world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka as its new Global Brand Ambassador, strengthening the haircare brand's relationship with the sport after several years as Official Haircare Sponsor of the Miami Open. The four-time Grand Slam champion will headline global campaigns and appear at major tennis events. "Partnering with Aryna felt like the perfect next match," said Marina Kirschner, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing. The deal extends a run of athlete signings across beauty, following Wonderskin's tie-up with Katie Boulter and Wild's appointment of Emma Raducanu.

Kate Winslet renews Oslo Skin Lab partnership

Kate Winslet continued her relationship with Norwegian brand Oslo Skin Lab, remaining the worldwide face of its flagship supplement, The Solution Beauty Collagen. The actress, first announced as an ambassador in November 2024, has again written her own scripts for a new international campaign photographed and directed by Alexi Lubomirski. "It really is a lovely thing to be able to talk about a product that I actually take and believe in," Winslet said, with founder Cecilie Nordstrøm describing the extension as an endorsement of the brand's inside-out approach to beauty.