And now, a close look at Chanel Beauty…

As you know, Chanel has been enjoying a maniacal resurgence ever since Matthieu Blazy began his tenure as the brand’s artistic director last April. As it’s played out, I’ve been wondering how that momentum will (or will not) impact the $6 billion Chanel Beauty division. Chanel hasn’t really been a meaningful player in mainstream beauty culture since 2006, when it introduced black nail polish. A person close to the company told me that, obviously, they were optimistic about a Blazy “halo” effect—hopeful that beauty products, such as the $35 Le Vernis nail polish, will eventually lead someone to spend five figures on a handbag down the line.

I spoke with numerous insiders, and no one expected Blazy to seriously alter the brand’s minimal black-and-white beauty packaging. (He shouldn’t!) Instead, they said his biggest impact might be felt on the marketing side, from the look and feel of the campaigns to the various talent partnerships. “Think about all the ambassadors he’s brought on in such a short period of time,” such as A$AP Rocky, said a person familiar with the fragrance business.

In any case, there’s a lot of potential room to grow the beauty division—despite the fact that the category has driven around 30 percent of Chanel’s overall sales, give or take, for nearly two decades. In 2025, Chanel’s overall revenue climbed to $19.3 billion—a 2 percent bump from 2024, with operating profits increasing by 5 percent, to $4.7 billion. And obviously, the numbers this year will be even stronger: Chanel’s U.S. revenue is already up more than 25 percent year over year, with every vertical boasting increases, according to a person familiar with the business. (I’m told the East Hampton pop-up did close to $2 million in sales in its first four days, far surpassing internal expectations.) A thriving Chanel Beauty would not only bolster their position in a competitive luxury landscape, it could arrive at a time when other major players are also stuck in various states of limbo.

Fragrance, in particular, remains a bright spot for the company. Globally, Chanel is a top two brand in the category, alongside Dior, and Jacob Elordi’s appointment as the global ambassador for Bleu de Chanel, in April, has been heralded internally as a success. I’m told the metrics surrounding Elordi’s announcement even surpassed the numbers for Timothée Chalamet, who stepped into the same role about three years earlier. “They thought Timothée was going to be a ‘relatable’ version of masculinity, but they hit the jackpot with Jacob,” said a person familiar with the fragrance business.

Makeup and skincare, however, could use substantial work. While Chanel has some great beauty and skin products, an insider noted that both lack a crucial “storytelling” element—and that Chanel’s skincare challenges, in particular, are significant. The category has become more competitive in the wake of the post-Covid skincare frenzy and influx of great serums and moisturizers across all price points. A person close to the beauty business also acknowledged that Chanel simply hasn’t “kept up” with “the evolving pace of skincare science and technology.” (In fact, I’m not sure if Chanel ever had real authority in skincare, with the exception of a few products and franchises such as the super-luxe Sublimage range or “La Solution 10.”)

Meanwhile, the makeup category has been hampered by the absence of a dedicated creative director since the 2021 departure of Lucia Pica, who had succeeded the legendary Peter Philips six years earlier. Instead of replacing Pica, Chanel named a trio of up-and-coming makeup artists, known as the Cometes Collective, in 2024. “I was pretty surprised about how difficult it is to actually develop and create makeup with a lab,” one of the artists, Cécile Paravina, told WWD at the time of the appointment. “There are so many intricacies to understand, the functionality.” Obviously, that’s something no one wants to hear from a person leading makeup at Chanel. “The collective, so far, hasn’t worked as well as having a single, creative lead,” the person close to the beauty business said.

For an enlightened perspective on some potential remedies, I asked Alexis Page for her candid assessment of Chanel Beauty. “It’s very old school,” the vaunted beauty consultant and former product and branding wizard at MAC Cosmetics, Glossier, and Pat McGrath told me (check out her newish Substack, Self Involved). “In the summer, it’s about bronzing, and Chanel gives you one blush duo, one eyeshadow quad, and three lip glosses with a photo of someone splashing––and it’s the same for fall, spring, and holiday.”

We agreed that Chanel shouldn’t change the beauty packaging, and that the swiftest way for Blazy to make his mark in the sector would be to include products in a show. When he sends a pair of seafoam green shoes down the runway, for instance, there should be a seafoam green nail polish that launches in tandem with the collection. Rather than revamping or reformulating makeup, Page told me, Blazy could simply do specialty shade extensions, which “takes zero time, money, and resources.”

Chanel’s beauty hurdles aren’t unique. It’s one of several luxury giants operating a massive, multicategory beauty division (Dior, Saint Laurent, Gucci, and Armani are others) trying to appeal to ultra-high-net-worth clients and regular beauty shoppers alike—something really only possible with ample fashion crossover. And in recent years, unfortunately, these beauty brands have been caught off guard by new competitors and a revolving swirl of creative directors who are updating house codes at unprecedented speed. Again, Chanel doesn’t need to overhaul things entirely to kick its beauty arm into gear. The brand, in the short term, would probably benefit from a powerhouse makeup lead, as well as a few products (lip gloss, nail polish) that share similar motifs and go on sale at the same time as future collections. 

Jacob on why shopping for guys in Los Angeles is so fun, from H. Lorenzo to Mohawk General. Not so much fun for women. Other than Scout, of course. [N.Y. Times]

Michael Bargo is in the running for one of the most influential interior designers of his generation, and his relationship with The Row is only the beginning of it. [Elle Decor]

R.I.P. to photographer and Helmut Lang muse Elfie Semotan, who died in Austria earlier this week. She’s one of those people who probably influenced you and you don’t even know how much. [Instagram]

Gisele x Brian Molloy… wow. That’s why we love Sara Moonves!!!! [W mag]

Until tomorrow,
Lauren

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