Sephora Announces First-Ever Black-Owned Brands Campaign to Support and Celebrate Black Beauty

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Sephora unveiled its first-ever Black-owned brands campaign to further recognize and celebrate the contributions that Black culture and Black innovators have made to the beauty industry, including the excellent array of products, available for all beauty consumers. The campaign follows the launch earlier this month of a short statement film called “Black Beauty is Beauty” and highlights Black-owned brands and founders, including PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross, Briogeo, adwoa beauty, BREAD BEAUTY SUPPLY, Fenty Beauty, Forvr Mood, PAT McGRATH LABS, LYS Beauty, Danessa Myricks Beauty and Fashion Fair.

“Many of the tools, techniques, iconic looks and trends in beauty exist because of the Black community, driven by Black beauty needs and innovation,” said Priya Venkatesh, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, at Sephora. “However, these contributions have historically been underrecognized or for most, unknown. At Sephora, we want to help move the conversation forward, bringing awareness and education surrounding the impact of Black beauty in our daily lives. This campaign spotlights our Black-owned brands, championing the excellence and efficacy of their innovative products, for all Sephora beauty shoppers. Through this campaign, we aim to make beauty a more welcoming, supportive, and collaborative space, for all.”

In addition to the campaign, Sephora also unveiled the following initiatives to support its ongoing DE&I commitments:

• Sephora Favorites Kit: Sephora will launch a first-ever Sephora Black-Owned Brands Favorites Kit, with proceeds going to the 15 Percent Pledge. Participating brands include, adwoa beauty, BREAD BEAUTY SUPPLY, Briogeo, Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, PAT McGRATH LABS and Shani Darden Skin Care.

• Sephora Accelerate 2022: As of today, applications are open for Sephora Accelerate 2022. This program creates a foundation, network, and ecosystem for brands to launch and thrive, and will continue to focus on BIPOC-founded and owned brands as part of Sephora’s commitment to increasing BIPOC representation in its assortment. The program will continue to offer a robust curriculum to Accelerate members, which includes mentorship, merchandising support, potential funding, and investor connections with the goal of providing founders support for their launch and long-term growth at Sephora.

• Black Beauty is Beauty Statement Film: Sephora recently produced the “Black Beauty is Beauty” statement short film to shine a light on the underrecognized contributions of Black influence on the beauty industry. Through the 60-second spot, Sephora aims to educate, drive awareness and spark conversation about the rich history of Black beauty, while also encouraging viewers to join Sephora’s efforts to champion all beauty.

• Sephora Color IQ: Sephora announced it will unveil its new Sephora Color iQ foundation matching service instore, which will feature new AI technology, to provide a best-in-class experience for all clients to find their best foundation match. Current shade matching in the industry only accounts for depth and undertone, while Sephora's new Color iQ technology accounts for depth, undertone, and saturation to recommend the best products that closely match clients' skin tones. Sephora’s Color iQ leverages a cutting-edge proprietary algorithm that provides clients with a dataset of 10K+ skin tones, suitable across all shade ranges. Sephora currently offers 8k+ foundation SKUs and with the help of this AI-based tool, our Beauty Advisors can help clients find their perfect match in minutes.

Sephora’s equity journey is rooted in sustained seismic change through its comprehensive plan named the Sephora D&I Heart Journey, the retailer has committed to tackling bias and promoting equality across all aspects of their organization. Sephora will continue this progress across all facets of their business, with a growing, diverse assortment of brands and a more inclusive and equitable shopping experience for all. For more on the retailer’s commitment and recent progress report, please visit our newsroom.

About Sephora Americas

Since its debut in North America over 20 years ago, Sephora has been a leader in prestige omni-retail with the purpose of creating an inviting beauty shopping experience and inspiring fearlessness in our community. With the goal of delivering unbiased shopping support and a personalized experience, Sephora invites clients to touch and try 25,000 products from over 330 carefully curated brands, enjoy services at the Beauty Studio and engage with expertly trained beauty advisors in more than 500 stores across the Americas. Clients can also experience Sephora online and through our mobile app, access the free-to-join Beauty Insider program and digital community, which together enhance the experience of Sephora’s passionate clients. Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging amongst all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through our Sephora Stands social impact programs. For more information, visit: https://www.sephora.com/about-us and @Sephora on social media. For media inquiries, please visit our Sephora newsroom or email [e-mail]