Hailey Bieber: The Queen of Sephora

Hailey Bieber’s Rhode launched in stores at Sephora two weeks ago yesterday (the same day Justin Bieber announced Swag II) and it has been nothing short of a smash hit. There’s no overselling it because, well, it oversold. In a piece for Puck yesterday, Rachel Strugatz’s industry sources called it a “blowout”, the biggest debut in Sephora’s history. 

What’s especially impressive is how quickly they pulled it together. Or at least from the public’s perspective. You’ll recall it was only in May that it was announced that Rhode had been acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a blockbuster billion dollar deal. Needless to say, they’d been working on it for months prior – and not just negotiating the terms of the deal but scaling up, in production and administration, readying for the Sephora drop. Which would have taken so much coordination and organisation, to go from online direct-to-consumer to retail availability with enough inventory to move. 

How much did it move? It was a record first day of sales, according to Puck, amounting to around $15 million. In one day! On a relatively small line of products. It’s an extraordinary achievement and another example of how the comment section isn’t necessarily an accurate representation of a person’s popularity or likeability. Hailey over the last few years has been one of the most bullied celebrities online and yet, here she is with one of the most successful launches the beauty industry has ever seen with a brand that she just started three years ago. 

Rhode is thriving, currently, but the question now is how it will sustain this momentum past a year, maybe two. That was the most interesting part of Rachel Strugatz’s report – because while Rhode was a slam dunk for Sephora, they were hoping that other products in store would benefit from the foot traffic that was coming in for Rhode and benefit other brands. Which didn’t happen, and that’s why Sephora has pivoted towards churn. 

“The retailer is hyperfocused on churn and expecting shorter brand lifespans—not only because of Rhode, but also on account of the ruthless brand-turnover cycle that defines modern retail. Alas, what were once decades-long partnerships now last just three to five years. “I remember when Fenty was the Rhode, and then Rare was the Rhode,” said a high-profile founder. “And that’s okay––these brands don’t need to last forever.”

So, basically, legacy brands aren’t being born anymore. I’m not sure that Hailey Bieber is planning for Rhode to be over in three to five years but if that is the current reality then the challenge for her, and anyone with a brand, is to figure out how to build enough consumer loyalty to go from this present win to longevity. 

Last night she was out with Kendall and Kylie Jenner, looking very celebratory – and she’s certainly earned it. At one point she was taking pictures of Rhode billboards on Sunset Blvd. It’s worth noting though, since she was with Kylie, that the churn we were just talking about applies to Kylie Cosmetics. Kylie’s lip kits were the hottest sh-t at launch in 2015 and hit retail a couple years later. And now? It’s been a decade and nobody is talking about Kylie’s makeup anymore.