Why the “stars are aligning” for a successful return of Marc Jacobs Beauty

American fashion designer Marc Jacobs first launched his eponymous beauty brand in 2013, making more than 120 products available for purchase in select Marc Jacobs stores and at Sephora. Created in connection with Kendo Brands, a beauty incubator owned by luxury group LVMH, Marc Jacobs Beauty was discontinued in 2021 after its contract with Kendo ended and was not renewed. 

At the time of the closure, a representative of Marc Jacobs told Business of Fashion that this wouldn’t be the last the public would see of the brand: “Marc Jacobs Beauty is not being discontinued. Currently, we are in the process of strategizing the best way to reach our global customer going forward.”

Now, the brand has announced that it is officially being revived through a partnership with French-American multinational beauty company Coty. According to Coty’s CEO Sue Y. Nabi, the beauty line is expected to debut in two to three years. 

The beauty world is buzzing with the news, but will the second iteration of the brand prove more successful than the prior attempt?

The rise and fall of Marc Jacobs Beauty

Marc Jacobs Beauty quickly developed a devoted fanbase upon its debut into the world of cosmetics, with its gel eyeliners and the “eye-conic” long-wear eyeshadow palettes proving particularly popular with beauty lovers and makeup artists alike.

In addition to the exposure it gained from being used on models in Marc Jacobs’ runway shows, the beauty line was able to build a strong social media following through its affiliations with A-list names, including popular makeup influencers like Nikkie de Jager, better known as NikkieTutorials, as well as celebrity models like Adwoa Aboah and Kaia Gerber, who is currently one of the faces of Marc Jacobs Daisy, the brand’s popular fragrance.

Outwardly, the beauty line appeared to be thriving, but the broader Marc Jacobs business was on shaky ground. In 2015, the more financially accessible Marc by Marc Jacobs line was pulled back, and LVMH shut down the brand’s menswear department in 2017. Marc Jacobs closed dozens of bricks-and-mortar stores across Europe and the US, including the flagship “MarcLand” store in New York.  

Consolidated retail revenues, not counting fragrance royalties, reportedly fell from US$650 million in 2015 to US$300 million in 2018. However, in recent years, Marc Jacobs has been making a comeback, both on social media and in sales revenue. 

In 2019, Marc Jacobs launched a handbag dubbed “The Tote Bag”, which went viral a year later on TikTok for its stylish simplicity and fairly accessible price point. The fashion house also gained a younger, more trend-savvy consumer base with the launch of the Heaven by Marc Jacobs line in 2020. 

The buzz around Marc Jacobs Beauty

The return of Marc Jacobs Beauty comes as a growing number of high-end fashion houses expand their beauty offerings beyond the fragrance lines, which many had previously established. 

Valentino Beauty was introduced to the US market in June 2021, while Paco Rabanne’s beauty collection Rabanne Beauty will be released in October 2023, and Prada Beauty is expected to roll out in the US by January 2024. 

Unlike these other beauty lines, Marc Jacobs already has a built-in fanbase of former consumers who have been eagerly awaiting news of the brand’s resurrection. 

In May 2023, luxury online fashion retailer Net-A-Porter appeared to prematurely spill the beans that Marc Jacobs Beauty products would eventually be available on the site. The page was quickly taken down but not before speculation was reignited about the brand’s comeback. 

Beauty experts and hosts of the “Gloss Angeles” podcast, Kirbie Johnson and Sara Tan, dedicated an entire episode to speculating on the return of the beauty line, dubbed “Could Marc Jacobs Beauty Be Resurrected? We Can Only Hope”. The episode was released on June 6, 2023, just a few weeks before the brand’s official statement. 

What is different this time around?

While the beauty landscape is as competitive as ever, there are a few factors that could prove advantageous to Marc Jacobs Beauty’s revival.

The brand is working with Coty, a corporation that already has a strong understanding of the Marc Jacobs ethos, as it has long worked with the luxury brand on its fragrance offering.

“The expansion and extension of our longstanding agreement with the house of Marc Jacobs, now in its 20th year, is a testament to the enduring success of our partnership and the brand’s limitless potential,” Nabi stated in a press release.

“Through its partnership with Coty, Marc Jacobs’ Fragrances have achieved great success, growing to become one of the top 10 female fragrances world-wide, thanks to the iconic Daisy Marc Jacobs and Perfect Marc Jacobs franchises. The revival of Marc Jacobs’ cosmetic portfolio, now in partnership with Coty, is eagerly anticipated by consumers around the world who have been campaigning for its return.”

The brand has also expanded its e-commerce footprint with the opening of the brand’s flagship store on Lazada, a leading online retailer in Southeast Asia that is expected to reach 413 million users by 2025.

Marie Driscoll, an expert on luxury retail and founder and chief analyst at Driscoll Advisors, told Inside Retail that Coty is “the right partner at the right time for the relaunch of Marc Jacobs Beauty.”

“Ahead of its time with genderless beauty products when first launched in 2013 in a partnership with Kendo Brands, the brand was abandoned in 2021 despite consumer demand as Kendo focused on the rapid growth of Fenty Beauty,” Driscoll said.

“We have no doubt of the commitment and talent of both partners in this endeavor and consumers are clamoring for the return of Marc Jacobs Beauty.”

Noting that Coty’s CEO described the brand as “perfectly positioned between couture and indie” earlier this month, Driscoll believes that “the stars are aligning for a successful second run.”

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