The year began with high-powered talent making major moves in the beauty industry. The month of January came to a close with the news that Unilever is planning to cut around 15% of senior management roles and 5% of more junior management roles, representing the loss of roughly 1,500 jobs globally, restructuring to five category-focused Business Groups. Glossier raised $80 million last July in a funding round that valued the business at $1.8 billion. The brand announced on January 26th 2022 that had laid off 80 of its corporate staff members with the technology team being most affected. In an email to employees, CEO Emily Weiss wrote that Glossier had "made some mistakes."
Who Moved Where:
Sunny Jain, president of Beauty & Personal Care, one of the most coveted roles at Unilever, is leaving the company to set up an investment fund focused on technology megatrends. Jain’s role was eliminated as part of the reorganization announced just days after Unilever gave up its controversial pursuit of GlaxoSmithKline’s Consumer Healthcare arm. Jain previously worked at Amazon, joining in 2013 as head of the Core Consumables business unit, responsible for health and personal care, beauty and grooming, luxury beauty, grocery/food, baby, private brands, the Pillpack subsidiary, and other innovation teams. Prior to that he spent sixteen years at Procter & Gamble in Canada and the US working in new business creation, marketing, sales and information technology. Jain joined Unilever in June 2019 and reported to Jope.
Fernando Fernandez, executive vice president of Latin America, is taking on the newly created role of president of Beauty & Wellbeing, which includes hair care, skin care, as well as vitamins, minerals and supplements, and Unilever Prestige. Fabian Garcia, Unilever’s president of North America, has been appointed president of Personal Care, which includes skin cleansing, deodorants, and oral care.
Industry veteran Marc Rey has been named Chief Executive Officer of Beautycounter. Founder Gregg Renfrew moves into the Executive Chair and Chief Brand Officer role to deepen her focus on advocacy, community engagement, and brand innovation. Private equity firm Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake in the brand in 2021 in a $1 billion deal with talks of a possible road to a future initial public offering. Rey was formerly CEO and Chief Growth Officer of Shiseido Americas until August 2020. Before joining Shiseido in 2015, he was Senior Vice President of Coty North America, and president of IDC at L'Oréal USA.
Andrew Stanleick has been named CEO of The Beauty Health Co, the parent company of HydraFacial, which went public in a SPAC deal last May. Stanleick was most recently Executive Vice President, Americas, of Coty, and global CEO of the joint ventures with Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty brand. Stanleick will join the board of directors and take the reins in early February. In addition to growing HydraFacial, Stanleick will be charged with identifying acquisition targets to grow BeautyHealth's brand portfolio. Prior to Coty, Stanleick was at Coach Inc. as president and CEO of the Europe and South Asia and Pacific businesses. He began his career in consumer goods at Unilever and L'Oréal.
Coty has named its replacements for Andrew Stanleick. Anna von Bayern, Coty’s chief corporate affairs officer, will lead the Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian West beauty businesses while the brands’ general manager, Vanessa Reggiardo, will continue to oversee operations. Debbie Erickson, the company’s managing director of Canada, was elevated to managing director, US.
Clean beauty retailer Credo names Stuart Millar CEO replacing Dawn Dobras, who previously held the position. Millar has served in leadership roles in the beauty and fashion industries for over 20 years and brings strong experience in scaling iconic, mission-based global brands, and has demonstrated proven success in DTC, wholesale and franchise operations. Most recently, Millar served as the General Manager & President of Aesop Americas
The Body Shop has poached Estée Lauder's Maddie Smith to be its UK and Ireland chief. Smith, currently the beauty VP, Retail Channel for North America at Estée Lauder, has also held senior positions at L'Occitane, AS Watson, and Boots. The Body Shop also promoted Managing Director Linda Campbell to the newly created role of Global Retail Director that will focus on driving The Body Shop's Activist Workshop store rollout and refill station concept. Campbell joined The Body Shop in 2014 from Planet Organic. Both will report to CEO David Boynton.
REN Clean Skincare has appointed Michelle Brett as its new CEO to drive its next phase of growth and the brand's "Clean to the Planet" positioning. Brett was formerly with Unilever Prestige brand Living Proof, where she held senior positions, most recently Senior Vice President of sales. Brett replaced Arnaud Meysselle, who left the brand to join soft toy brand Jellycat as CEO.
Gussi, the cult favorite at-home keratin treatment brand, has named Alison Romash as President, joining the four-person executive team. In this new role, Romash will lead brand strategy, marketing, creative, media, product development, and expansion of the DTC business into omnichannel distribution. Most recently, she served as Deputy Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Retail Sales at BH Cosmetics. Prior to BH Cosmetics, Romash worked across makeup, haircare, and fragrance at companies such as L'Oréal, Coty, and Avon.
Yves Rocher, the French natural beauty brand, appointed Jean-David Schwartz as CEO. He succeeds Guy Flament, who spent 26 years at Groupe Rocher, the parent company of Yves Rocher. Schwartz began working with the Yves Rocher brand in 2002, holding various positions, becoming head of the Arbonne brand between 2018 and 2021. "His career path, combined with his capacity for transformation, will allow Jean-David to lead Yves Rocher to new success," the company said in a statement.
Karen Frank, President of Consumer Care AEMEA, and Dominic Pratt, President of Salon, Global, joined Kao's global management team as Executive Officers at the beginning of the year. Frank and Pratt have been tasked with the company's newly formed AEMEA Consumer Products Business. Pratt joined Kao in 2000 as a Senior Scientist and has led the firm's Skin Care Research group since 2019. Frank joined Kao in 2009; she led the AEMEA Consumer Care Business rising to the role of President, Kao USA in conjunction with her new appointment. The pair will report to the company's Tokyo headquarters.
Thom Walker succeeds Nicolas Degennes, who served as Givenchy's Makeup Creative Director for more than two decades and left the house in June 2021. He will oversee the development of new makeup lines and the creative direction of their communication campaigns, and serve as Givenchy's makeup spokesperson.
Hermès names Greek makeup artist Gregoris Pyrpylis to the position of Beauty Creation Director. He succeeds Jérôme Touron in the role, will report to Agnès de Villers, President of Hermès Parfum et Beauté, and be under the supervision of Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the group's Artistic Director, as well.
Months after getting a new CEO, JCPenney has new C-suite hires. The retailer added Sharmeelee Bala, formerly of Gap and Walmart, as Chief Information Officer, along with Katie Mullen of the Neiman Marcus Group as Chief Digital and Transformation Officer.
Debenhams appointed JD Sports' Multichannel its new Chief Executive Officer. The Boohoo group acquired the British department store in January 2021 in a deal that resulted in the closure of brick-and-mortar stores.
Mixed-media visual artist and photographer Alana O'Herlihy joins Isla Beauty as Partner and Creative Director. The brand said Alana and her work perfectly encompass the Isla ethos of raw, real, and empowering storytelling to create a new paradigm for beauty imagery and expression.
Mixed media visual artist and photographer Alana O’Herlihy joins Isla Beauty as Partner and Creative Director. The brand said Alana and her work perfectly encompass the Isla ethos of raw, real and empowering storytelling to create a new paradigm for beauty imagery and expression
Pacifica announced a new growth partner, Brentwood Associates, and the appointment of Nathalie Kristo as its new CEO and Board Member. Kristo served as Huda Beauty’s North America President, then as CEO based in Dubai. She led the brand’s omnichannel strategy with rapid acceleration of its direct-to-consumer business and helped expand the brand into new global markets and products categories. Prior to that, Kristo spent most of her career at L’Oreal, notably as the Global Brand President of NYX Professional Makeup. She has also held the positions of Senior Vice President of Marketing for L’Oreal Paris USA and General Manager of Maybelline New York and Garnier in Canada.
Peace Out Skincare has hired Sabrina Punja as its first Global Director of Brand and Product Marketing in response to its rapid growth. Punja has held marketing roles at Kendo, Bobbi Brown, and Elizabeth Arden. The brand is searching to expand its executive team and fill additional marketing positions.
With an eye to expansion in the professional channel, LightStim hired Julie Andrews to fill the position of Vice President of Spa and Wellness Development. Andrews spent 20 years at Kerstin Florian Skincare as President and Creative Director.
Gen Z skincare brand Topicals created a new position. Former Teen Vogue fashion and beauty director Tahirah Hairston will become the brand’s first Editorial director.
