Birchbox COO To Succeed Karen Buglisi Weiler at M·A·C

Philippe Pinatel has been appointed senior vice president, global general manager, M·A·C Cosmetics, effective March 5, 2018. Pinatel will join The Estée Lauder Companies’ executive leadership team and report directly to John Demsey, executive group president, The Estée Lauder Companies.
 
Pinatel succeeds Karen Buglisi Weiler, global brand president, M·A·C Cosmetics, who, after 20 years with the brand, has made the decision to leave the company effective Dec. 31, 2018 to prioritize personal commitments.  Buglisi Weiler will support Pinatel’s transition through the end of the current fiscal year, according to ELC. Effective July 2018, Buglisi Weiler will move into an advisory role and extend support to M·A·C Cosmetics and The Estée Lauder Companies’ North America Region.
 
According to ELC, under Buglisi Weiler’s leadership, M∙A∙C has been the No. 1 makeup brand globally in 36 countries. She was one of the first M∙A∙C employees hired when The Estée Lauder Companies fully acquired the brand in 1998.
 
“I would like to sincerely thank Karen for the strong success she helped M·A·C achieve under her leadership and for her deep dedication to the brand,” said Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO, The Estée Lauder Companies. “As Karen takes this important personal step forward, I am also thrilled to welcome Philippe to our company. The M·A·C brand will strongly benefit from his tremendous leadership in this important role.”
 
Pinatel brings to M·A·C more than 20 years of experience building fast-growing, large-scale online and retail operations. His deep understanding of prestige beauty, specialty-multi and digital are critical to leading a transformative effort in how M·A·C engages and inspires consumers globally. He will guide how brand teams work together to further increase operational efficiency while prioritizing expansion in high-growth channels, evolving distribution and building new cutting-edge capabilities to drive relevance and engagement with existing and new consumers, according to ELC.
 
“Philippe shares our vision to propel the brand into its next chapter of growth, reinvigorating M·A·C’s presence and impact on the industry globally,” said Demsey. “He brings tremendous experience from disruptive online and retail channels that have experienced explosive growth under his direction. His transformative approach to leadership, strength in brand-building and extensive digital-first beauty experience will inspire new ways for the brand to lead as the renegade and trendsetter in the beauty and retail industries.”
 
Pinatel joins M∙A∙C Cosmetics from Birchbox, where he served as president and COO since 2015.  Pinatel also brings diverse global experience, having lived and worked across the U.S., Canada, Europe, China and South Korea over the course of his career. Prior to Birchbox, he served as SVP and GM of Sephora Canada, and VP and GM of Sephora Inside JCPenney from 2010 to 2016.