After weeks of speculation, Glossier has finally dropped the news its onboarding its first-ever third party retailer: Sephora.
The news comes after founder Emily Weiss stepped down from her position as CEO back in May, following 18 months worth of internal allegations of bullying, racism, and pandemic-related store closures. Some have called this reckoning the end of the Girlboss/Glossier era — but Weiss and her successor Kyle Leahy are steadfast that the beauty unicorn is on the precipice of its next big growth stage, namely one that involves moving away from a DTC model and teaming up with the beauty giant that is Sephora.
Part of Glossier’s magic has always been the fact it was available only via the brand’s website and its retail locations — a feature that afforded tight brand control, as well as an air of exclusivity. It has come at the frustration of international consumers though, as Glossier doesn’t ship to Europe, Asia or Oceania. While the Sephora partnership is US and Canada only, it might mean that international distribution is (hopefully) on the horizon, another prediction that’s been made by brand loyalists.
It’s not the only major change Glossier have made since Weiss moved from CEO to Executive Chairwoman and ex-American Express executive Leahy took the reigns: Olivia Rodrigo was also onboarded as the first-ever ‘face’ of Glossier. There’s also another NYC Brooklyn flagship in the works after the Soho outpost closed in the midst of COVID lockdowns, plus scheduled openings for Washington, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
read more: OLIVIA RODRIGO JUST LANDED A NEW BEAUTY GIG WITH GLOSSIER
Given the current climate in indie beauty brands (innovators like Saie, Kosas and Milk Makeup have taken a significant chunk of the pie) it’s probably a smart play for the Unicorn company — fingers crossed it makes its way below the equator soon.
