Editors' Top Reads: News from Fenty, Selfridges and more...

Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.beauty team.

Rihanna's billion-dollar beauty empire launches Fenty Hair

Rihanna's beauty brand Fenty, which made the singer-turned-beauty mogul a billionaire, is set to add haircare to its lineup of skincare, cosmetics and fragrances. The line is set to rival fellow A-listers, Beyoncé and Rita Ora's recently launched haircare brands, who have all launched celebrity-backed hairlines in 2024. They must be on to something...

The global hair care market is expected to grow by $19.6 billion to $107.5 billion from 2022 to 2027, according to the market research firm Technavio. Fellow celeb Rita Ora recognised the haircare industry's appeal, launching TYPEBAE in April. Interestingly, this was mere months after Beyoncé Knowles-Carter also dipped her toes into the haircare market with her debut called Cécred. Launching in February with eight products, Cécred builds upon Knowles-Carter's vision to "create a new standard in haircare that breaks down myths and helps to change the narrative in haircare".

Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.

Kering Beauté invests in niche fragrance brand Matière Première

I love a niche investment, especially in a fledgling brand that creates a quality product using ethical practices. It was announced on Tuesday that Kering Beauté had scooped up a minority stake in French fragrance brand Matière Première, as it closed on a second round of funding.

Aurélien Guichard is a seventh generation parfumier, and founded Matière Première in 2019. Its fragrances contain between 85% and 92% natural ingredients and are vegan, phthalate-free and without any colouring agent.

The French fragrance brand will use the new cash injection to strengthen its team in the Paris headquarters and accelerate e-commerce expansion worldwide. A new version of its website (matiere-premiere.com) is due out this year.

Kering Beauté was established last year in an effort to ensure the beauty arms of its relevant brands, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Pomellato, and Qeelin, reached their full potential. It has since acquired cult fragrance house Creed.

Katie Ross, Contributing Writer.

In Pictures: Selfridges unveils "beauty destination of the future"

After a 12-month build process, Selfridges has taken the wraps off its "beauty destination of the future". And it's impressive. And big.

Selfridges has scale and it always attacks creative projects with zeal. In keeping with its recently adopted strategic focus on conscious consumerism, it has also attacked this particular project with sustainability front of mind.

At the new destination, some 74 brands offer more than 2,500 refill options with all brands committed to offering refills by 2025. All in all, there are 300 brands showcased in the space.

Experience is also key (Selfridges was doing experiential retail decades before anyone had ever heard of term) with 10 Beauty services on offer including a Beauty Bag Makeover and a Selfridges Beauty Tour.

I'm off to immerse myself in this beauty heaven before I head home for the weekend. Can't wait.

Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.

The Estée Lauder Cos. acquires Deciem for $1.7 billion

Though niche brands are constantly cropping up, within the beauty industry there are a few key players - Puig, L'Occitane and L'Oréal come to mind. The more successful a beauty brand is, the more likely one of the big names will bid to add it to its growing portfolio.

The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics and Clinique, among others, is no different. This week, it completed a £1.33 million ($1.7 billion) acquisition of Deciem, which owns skincare company The Ordinary. The beauty conglomerate first invested in Deciem in 2017, increasing its stake to become majority owner in 2021. The acquisition was completed on 31 May.

Recently, its rival Puig snapped up Dr. Barbara Sturm, meanwhile L Catterton acquired a majority stake in Kiko.

Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.