Around the World With Hailey Bieber’s Rhode

Subscribe to Full Coverage by Priya Rao: unpacking how shifting ideals, new players and cultural movements are transforming the global beauty and wellness industries.

Welcome back to Full Coverage, y’all. Thanks for reading.

Before I get started, please make sure to read Daniela Morosini’s case study on How to Build a Forever Brand. It features labels like Touchland, The Ordinary, Judydoll and Harry’s, and does an excellent job of charting their paths to growth over time. You can look forward to more beauty-focused case studies from us this year.

I have a fun newsletter this week covering Hailey Bieber’s European “Rhode” trip and new disruptor Swan Beauty that sells a souped-up $795 smart mirror.

If the name Swan Beauty sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because its owner, the Mitchell family office, was the winning bidder for luxe retailer Cos Bar over Violet Grey last fall. (Swan’s co-founder and chief executive, Colby Mitchell, is the wife of founder Mark Mitchell and Swan’s marketplace of 50 brands and 2,500 products is powered by… you guessed it: Cos Bar.)

Okay, let’s go. Read on for:

• A catch-up with Hailey Bieber and Rhode CEO Nick Vlahos
• A chat with Swan Beauty’s co-founder and CEO Colby Mitchell on its internet-stopping bachelorette collab with Brigette Pheloung (aka Acquired Style)

Rhode’s European Adventure

If a brand has managed to become the best-selling label in Sephora US, Canada and the UK in less than a year, there are a few options it can take: Pause and reflect on the growth or push harder.

If you’re Rhode, you choose the latter.

Today, the line announced its September push into 19 European countries via Sephora, seven months after launching into retail — period — and just two months after debuting in Australia and New Zealand with Mecca.

While one could argue that people get tired of brands if they see them too much, Rhode is the clear exception. Chief executive Nick Vlahos said the faster push to Europe came out of a conversation with Sephora CEO Guillaume Motte in December. He shared that while 20 percent of Rhode’s e-commerce revenue comes from international markets, 74 percent of social followers are outside of North America.

“When we launched Rhode DTC in the EU, we saw what a positive response we had. I’m looking forward to the idea that people will be able to get a new experience and really touch, see and feel it,” Bieber told me this week.

Vlahos added, “Strategically, [launching in Europe] made a lot of sense when it anchors back to what Hailey has been trying to achieve from day one, which is how to drive accessibility around this brand.”

The news follows Rhode’s breakout moment at Coachella, where the skincare and colour label married new product, including its new collaboration with Justin Bieber, with its signature experiential theatre, and its hit collaboration with “Love Story” star Sarah Pidgeon.

“Everything that I do, I do it based on instinct,” Bieber said of the recent product launches and marketing blitzes. “I do think that my instinct has only gotten stronger since I became a mom. I feel like a lot of these things that end up happening, like with Sarah, it’s like ‘Wow, the stars really, really aligned,’ but it’s more about trusting yourself and trusting the people around you.”

A big swing for the brand was its push into acne with its Spotwear pimple patches. As with Rhode’s eye patches that Bieber wears almost daily, she said she was looking for a product that worked and that people wouldn’t be afraid “to rock and wear out in the world.” It’s also given the line further credibility with male customers.

“From the beginning, I have always wanted Rhode to feel very unisex. I want men to use it and be able to steal it from their girlfriend’s cabinet, or vice versa,” she said. “[Rhode] isn’t something only for women, or to feel girly. I want it to feel like it’s for anyone.”

So far, the plan is working. In February, E.l.f. Beauty reported that Rhode was the company’s fastest-growing brand and was projected to exceed $360 million in annual sales.

But the European beauty market remains highly fragmented, with a pharmacy-led foothold and slow e-commerce adoption, though that’s shifting towards omnichannel (albeit more slowly than in the US). Sephora’s push to become more of a global merchandiser is one solution, especially as customers from France, Italy, Germany and others prefer shopping in stores, but localisation remains a priority. While Bieber won’t be able to visit all of Rhode’s European markets, as she had done with its UK and Australian debuts, the brand will selectively activate during Paris Fashion Week.

It’s clear that shoppers want everything Rhode can give them, but they also want Bieber: How she’s going to show up will be key to sustaining momentum. I hope she has extra passport pages.

Beauty and the Bachelorette

I didn’t know about Brigette Pheloung, better known as Acquired Style, until this weekend. The influencer hadn’t come across my Instagram or TikTok before, but for some reason I was inundated with her bachelorette content. I’m not going to any weddings this summer (someone invite me!), so I’m not exactly sure why the algorithm sent me down this hole. I’m guessing it had something to do with smart mirror company Swan Beauty sponsoring Pheloung’s pre-bridal extravaganza to St. Barth’s.

Anyway, I’ve seen plenty of influencer trips play out, as well as sponsored-ish weddings, but Pheloung’s bachelorette was on another level. Viewers watched the influencer and her 16 friends on a private jet, jumping on a Bezos-sized mega yacht and dancing in a club like college coeds on spring break — the buzz helped Pheloung hit 1 million Instagram followers on the trip.

Swan Beauty only launched in January, but has been working hard to boost its awareness. The brand’s co-founder and CEO Colby Mitchell even showed up in some of Pheloung’s bachelorette content; the two were seen reenacting Kwaylon Rogers’ (aka BlameItOnKway) #ImTheOwnerOfThisHouse video. As of Tuesday, the weekend clocked 22.4 million impressions and $1.9 million in earned media value, and Swan saw a direct hit to its site; over 28,000 user profiles have been created.

I caught up with Mitchell to talk through Swan’s reason for being and how Pheloung’s sponsored bachelorette came together.

Priya Rao: Colby, I would love to hear a bit about the brand before we go into the Acquired Style activation that happened this [past] weekend.

Colby Mitchell: We are obviously a new beauty technology platform. We’ve been in development for over four and a half years. We launched on Jan. 14, and are making a splash. Our launch strategy was intentionally phased. We put a strong focus on education and community validation. We did some beta testing, so that we were listening to our audience and that we could come to market with a perfect product. From there, we went into delivering [product] to media, to creators.

PR: There [are] so many devices out there. What makes yours special?

CM: We do have our own proprietary hardware and our software components. Our hardware is obviously our interactive smart mirror, and we have an accompanying app as well. We have multiple different features within our platform: We have our routine builder, a smart makeup artist, which we launched with celebrity makeup artists which [comes with] an AI try-on overlay. We have our skin analyser that was built with dermatologists to analyse six different parameters of your skin. We also have a social marketplace, which welcomes all beauty lovers, from beginners to experts to educators, and we have a marketplace where you can buy products directly off the mirror.

PR: Why did you want to get involved with Acquired Style and her bachelorette?

CM: Investing in brand awareness early has always been a priority. I had been a follower of Brigette’s and we came together as female founders and started brainstorming. She fell in love with Swan, and started using it as one of our early beta testers. Being a beauty and lifestyle expert, she gave us feedback on improvements and process flow and what would be great for UX/UI.

We [loved the idea of an] influencer celebrating her bachelorette trip. It was going to create a lot of buzz: A milestone like this involves multi-dimensional content. By showcasing the product and the platform in real life and how real users can use it every day, we thought the synergies were exceptional.

PR: What were you hoping to capture on the trip?

CM: We wanted to show the [expansiveness] of the platform. Taking over [content] with all the girls and having them use Swan in real life … was going to be the most beneficial. One person was doing a smart makeup artist feature, and then somebody was recording a tutorial for our social platform and somebody else was purchasing off the marketplace.

PR: How long did it take to plan the activation, from ideation to the weekend itself?

CM: Seven months. It takes some time planning an international trip. There were five [employees] on the ground from Swan because the girls did have a mirror in every bedroom to interact with, and there were three people on the plane. Swan takes education seriously, so we were there to assist with any internet issues, the technical component and to assist the girls with any questions in regards to the platform. In St. Barth’s it can be challenging to connect things to Wi-Fi.

PR: How much did this cost?

CM: It was an investment. I can’t speak to the funding, but we have intentional reasons for our partners and are really excited about the growth. We’ve had so much outreach [since the bachelorette], I can’t wrap my head around it. We just got back Sunday night. Our biggest avenue right now is in-person, experiential pop-ups [and events], because we want people to learn about Swan and interact with it.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

What I’m Reading

Weeks after news of a leadership shakeup, Bobbi Brown is set to withdraw from every US department store. Rachel Strugatz has the latest. [Puck]

Beauty’s age positivity movement isn’t actually all that positive, argues our friend Cheryl Wischhover. [“Good For Your Age” via Substack]

On another note, Kris Jenner loves her face lift and Dr. Levine! [Khloé in Wonder Land]

Social media app RedNote has emerged as a must win for brands hoping to cash in on China’s recovering beauty market. [The Business of Beauty]

Botox, botox and more botox — Cheryl might be right. [The Cut]

See you next week!

Priya