Kylie Cosmetics has reportedly generated profits surpassing USD 420 million over the last 18 months. It is projected to become a billion-dollar brand by 2022 and is tracking at 25% year-over-year growth for 2017, according to WWD. In comparison, L’Oreal’s Lancome brand, a cosmetic giant, took approximately 80 years to achieve USD 1 billion in sales.
This is impressive for a such a young brand. Under its 20-year-old CEO, reality television and social media personality Kylie Jenner, Kylie Cosmetics launched its first collection of Lip Kits (which consist of a liquid lipstick or gloss with a matching liner) in November of 2015. This initial limited release sold out in roughly a minute, as Jenner told WWD: “Launch day, I refreshed the page about a minute after we launched and everything was sold out. I thought there was a glitch at first.”
It’s not just lip service: Kylie Cosmetics is becoming an industry leader
Kylie Cosmetics undoubtedly benefits from Jenner’s visibility on television and social media: the brand does its advertising almost exclusively through Instagram and other social media platforms. New product releases—which now include highlighters, eyeliner, blush, and eyeshadow in addition to Lip Kits—are revealed and swatched on Jenner’s Snapchat. This advertising method, combined with the brand’s numerous limited releases, holiday collections, and special editions, makes Kylie Cosmetics products heavily in-demand with its target consumer groups of Millennial and Generation Z.
These tactics are common with indie and e-commerce-based cosmetic brands, but Jenner’s pre-established fame, presence in pop culture, and widespread speculation amongst media outlets about whether or not she had had lip fillers have helped Kylie Cosmetics to reach unprecedented heights. Kylie Cosmetics’ collaborations with Jenner’s sisters, including Kim Kardashian West, have also helped to draw attention and serious demand to the quickly-growing company.
Though the brand has recently seen a surge in dangerous counterfeit products appearing throughout the US, Kylie Cosmetics’ projected sales for 2017 are roughly USD 380 million, showing how far the brand has come since its initial obstacles and controversies. Should its momentum continue, it will stay on track to hit billion-dollar status by 2022.
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