France
www.lvmh.com
Sales: $7.6 billion

Note: $7.6 billion for cosmetics and fragrances. Corporate sales: $60.1 billion

Key personnel
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer; Antonio Belloni, group managing director; Nicolas Bazire, development and acquisition; Chantal Gaemperle, human resources and synergies; Jean Jacques Guiony, finance; Chris de Lapuente, Sephora and Beauty; Jean Baptiste Voisin, strategy

Major Products
Perfumes and cosmetics: Guerlain, Acqua di Parma, Parfums Christian Dior, Givenchy Paris, Perfumes Loewe, Benefit Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Kenzo Parfums, Fresh, KVD Vegan Beauty, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Fenty Beauty

New products
Christian Dior: Miss Dior EDT, Sauvage Intense. Givenchy: L’Interdit. Make Up For Ever: Rouge Artist (relaunch). Fenty Beauty by Rihanna: eye makeup; Acqua di Parma 100% natural cologne; Guerlain: Mad Eyes mascara. Benefit: Hello Happy Air Stick foundation, Boi-ing Cakeless Concealer, Roller Liner liquid eyeliner. Kenzo: Kenzoki White Lotus lotion and oil, Kenzoki Ginger Flower Wake-up Serum Lotion, Flower by Kenzo Cushion rock collector fragrance; Fresh: Sugar hydrating lip balms (assorted varieties), Rose Deep Hydration Petal-Soft lip balm. KVD Vegan Beauty: Shake Eyeshadow Primer. Marc Jacobs: Brow Wow duo

Comments: LVMH was the first beauty company to get into the hand sanitizer business when COVID-19 struck. On March 15, the company shifted to manufacturing hand sanitizer. A week later, LVMH spent $6 million to supply 40 million surgical and FFP2 masks to French citizens. Just last month LVMH donated 100,000 tubes of hand sanitizer gel to help Secours Populaire Français organize “Happy Vacation Days” for vulnerable families

Last year, LVMH was one of the first to respond when Notre-Dame de Paris went up in flames. The company donated €200 million to its restoration fund.

In an ongoing project that began in 2013, LVMH’s LIFE sustainability initiative has four key goals: improve the environmental performance of all products; best practice applied in 70% of supply chains, to reach 100% in 2025; 25% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions attributable to energy consumption; and all manufacturing, administrative and retail sites to achieve at least a 10% improvement in key environmental performance measures.

The commitments came during and following an exceptional year for LVMH. Corporate sales increased 15% and profits posted double-digit gains, too. Cosmetic and fragrance sales rose 9% last year, with Asia, excluding Japan, accounting for 40% of sales. Europe, excluding France, was next at 20%; followed by the US (15%), France and Other Markets (10% each), and Japan, 5%. The number of stores rose 20% to 426, but profit increased just 1%.

Christian Dior continued to grow much faster than the overall fragrance and cosmetics market, according to LVMH. Iconic perfumes like J’adore, Miss Dior and Sauvage led the way, but makeup and skin care contributed as well. One of the 2020 goals is to develop Parfums Christian Dior in harmony with couture. Guerlain’s sales rose on the strength of Abeille Royale skin care and Rouge G makeup. Similarly, Parfums Givenchy’s results were lifted by makeup sales and L’Interdit perfume. Finally, Fresh, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and Acqua di Parma sales all grew rapidly.

Last year, Guerlain launched Bee Respect, its transparency and traceability platform. Originally an in-house tool to encourage collaborative eco-design, Bee Respect is a digital platform that enables users to learn more about raw materials, suppliers, manufacturing sites and carbon footprint all the way to the point of sale.

For the first quarter of 2020, corporate sales fell 15%, and perfumes and cosmetics sales fell 18%, but online sales were brisk.

Last month, Kendo, the beauty incubator inside LVMH, laid off 10% of its staff. Kendo is the force behind many of the brands sold at Sephora. A source told Women’s Wear Daily that approximately 50 employees were impacted.

“In light of the COVID-19 health crisis and the resulting impact on business, Kendo made the difficult decision to reduce the size of certain teams. We worked hard to keep the reductions as limited as possible,” a Kendo spokeswoman told WWD.

In other Kendo news, Kat Von D Beauty founder Kat Von D left the brand to focus on other artistic endeavors (namely, her vegan shoe line and upcoming album). The move makes Kendo the sole owner and force behind the beauty line. Effective immediately, the brand will now be called KVD Vegan Beauty.

The brand will continue offering its current lineup, as well as creating new vegan and cruelty-free makeup for consumers. The development of the KVD Vegan Beauty brand and its products has been the result of a 12-year partnership between Kat Von D and Kendo.

“I want to thank Kat for helping to change the beauty industry with us,” stated David Suliteanu, CEO of Kendo. “Kendo, along with our global retail partner, Sephora, look forward to the continued growth of KVD Vegan Beauty under Kendo’s leadership, ownership and direction. We are fully positioned to continue the brand’s growth and development in both product and marketing. We have developed a very strong product pipeline for 2020 and beyond. The same Kendo team that made history with KVD Vegan Beauty is ready to do it again.”

KVD Vegan Beauty has more than 250 products in nearly every beauty category. It is sold globally, in every major market, in 36 countries around the world, primarily at Sephora and kvdveganbeauty.com.