Italian Raffaella Cornaggia had been senior vice president and international general manager of the Estée Lauder and Aerin brands since 2020, heading the global business outside the United States and Canada. ERIC PIERMONT / AFP
The beauty sector is seen as “strategic” for the group and would give it “the time needed to build and develop these activities internally with smaller brands”.
The global luxury giant Kering announced on Friday the creation of a Beauty division to develop cosmetics and perfumes, a sector now “strategic” for the French group, which appoints Raffaella Cornaggia, a former leader of the competitor, to head this division. Estee Lauder. “The creation of Kering Beauty“should enable the brands Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Pomellato and Qeelin to develop in the beauty sector, “that we identify as strategic” And “which constitutes a natural extension of their universe“, explains the group in a press release.
Italian Raffaella Cornaggia had been senior vice president and international general manager of the Estée Lauder and Aerin brands since 2020, heading the global business outside the United States and Canada. She began her career at L’Oréal, holding several positions for more than nine years before joining Chanel Parfums Beauté and then, in 2008, the Estée Lauder group, the world’s second largest cosmetics company after L’Oréal. With the new Beauty division, “we are building this new know-how within the group in order to enable our brands to reach their full potential in this categorycommented Jean-François Palus, Deputy CEO of Kering and right-hand man of CEO François-Henri Pinault.
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This division does not include the Gucci brand or Yves Saint Laurent (YSL). The license for the beauty activities of Gucci, flagship of the Kering group, is in fact held by the American group Coty.for at least five yearsaccording to analysts at RBC Capital Markets. As for the YSL brand, the license for beauty products is held by L’Oréal. The new divisionshould enable Kering” having “the time needed to build and grow these businesses internally with smaller brandsBefore eventually becoming an alternative to regain control of Gucci perfumes and cosmetics when the licensing agreement granted to Coty expires, say analysts. In the short term, however, the effect on earnings will only be “probably not significant“Adds RBC in a note.
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