The space for celebrity beauty brands is busier than ever, but Halsey thinks there’s room for one more label.
On July 25, the musician, whose name offstage is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, will introduce his second beauty brand, AF94, which will be sold at Walmart, the brand’s exclusive retail partner, as well as on his own website.
AF94 will be a diffusion line of About-Face, Halsey’s first brand, launching in January 2021. AF94 products include face stickers, cream blush, volume mascara, eyeshadow crayons and makeup remover wipes. biodegradable, all for $10 or less.
Halsey is launching this company with full knowledge of how crowded the celebrity beauty space is. You’ve seen the fierce competition About-Face faces: In June, the brand slashed its prices to differentiate itself.
“The customer is fatigued and I don’t blame him,” Halsey told BoF. “The market for celebrity beauty brands is completely oversaturated.”
Still, they believe beauty shoppers are still looking to explore new labels. The 27-year-old musician, who found success with songs like “Bad at Love” and “Without Me” before finding global audiences working with BTS and Chainsmokers, recently developed a younger audience after playing a role in the animated film. “Sing 2”. They believe that his younger fans are especially interested in experimenting with products that are priced lower.
Halsey referred to About-Face as “artistic makeup” and said that AF94 is intended for entry-level buyers. (The two brands were developed and are operated by the same team, which includes Jeanne Chavez and Dineh Mohajer, the co-founders of 1990s beauty favorite Hard Candy.) world,” though it includes colorful items like hot pink lip gloss and teal gel eyeliner, a nod to the neon trend dominating beauty right now.
AF94 was developed with Gen-Z in mind and draws inspiration from the beauty of the late ’90s and 2000s. Inspirational pop culture moments include “the sparkly nail polish from the poker scene in ‘The Parent Trap’ and the turquoise of the [cover] from Gwen Stefani’s Tragic Reign for No Doubt,” they added.
While beauty consumers have plenty of options for mauve eye shadows and rosy lip glosses, Halsey said the About-Face team developed AF94 to be fun and accessible, making some products multi-purpose, like the lipstick on the label, which doubles as lipstick.
Walmart is betting the label will take off with young shoppers, vice president of beauty merchandising Creighton Kiper said. The company is implementing special AF94-branded shelving for its beauty aisle and will also place promotional signage in other parts of its stores.
“The reality is that there is a sea of products out there, but … Halsey has a really strong connection to our customer base, and she’s also very hands-on,” Kiper said. “The customer has an insatiable appetite for new and better quality products all the time, so [we’re] submitting this for [them] to experiment.”
Halsey said positioning About-Face as direct-to-consumer made them realize the limits of the model, so with AF94 they pushed their team to work with Walmart. It’s a changing attitude that’s appearing across retail, with even the most popular DTC brands now experimenting with wholesale. In beauty, many brands are seeking partnerships with Walmart, Target, or Ulta.
“I’m wrapping up a tour in the US right now, playing in Arkansas, Alabama… and watching my fans dress to the nines, wear crazy makeup, and I want to give them products that they can walk into a store and get.” they said.
In recent months, the celebrity beauty space has seen an influx of newcomers, with Kim Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Gwen Stefani and Scarlett Johansson launching new lines. Halsey, who is famous for doing her own makeup for album cover photo shoots and red carpet events, said their history of meeting beauty sets them apart and they intend to show their millions of followers on social media. how to use AF94 products.
“I can show people how I use the products, mix the colors and how they inspire me… we don’t just use my face as a form of advertising,” they said. “It’s not ‘Look at this makeup someone else did.’ They can see me as an artist and the way I really relate to the products.”
Source: www.businessoffashion.com