10.25.21
Chanel is #16 on this year's list of Top Global Beauty Companies.
Below is a look at the company's 2021 highlights, recent acquisitions, best-selling brands, and latest innovations.
Corporate Sales
$10 billion
Beauty Sales
$3.4 billion (est.)
Key Personnel
Alain Werthheimer, global chief executive officer and chairman; Gerard Werthheimer, co-chairman; Alain Philippe Blondiaux, chief financial officer; Kate Wylie, global chief sustainability officer and president of Fondation Chanel
Major Products
Fragrances, Skin Care and Color Cosmetics including Fragrances: Chanel No. 5, Allure, Allure Homme, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, No.19, Bleu de Chanel. Skin Care: Sublimage, Ultra Correction Lift and Line Repair, Hydramax + Active, White Essentiel. Color Cosmetics: Rouge Allure, Rouge Coco, Le Vernis, Inimitable, Vitalumière, Joues Contrastes
New Products
Chanel Factory 5, Blue de Chanel, Les Eau de Chanel, Rouge Coco Bloom lipcolor, Le Bain de Chance Scented Bath Tablets, Perles et Éclats de Chanel makeup collection, Le Lift, Sublimage, L’Extrait de Nuit, Sublimage L’Essence de Teint, Hydra Beauty, Massage Oil Collection
Comments
With most of the world hunkered down in 2020 and duty-free airport shopping roped off, luxury sales, including fragrances and cosmetics suffered, and impacted Chanel across the board. Corporate sales fell 18% in 2020, to $10 billion, led by a 36% drop in Europe. When international travel started to resume in the last quarter, the French luxury goods manufacturer saw an uptick in sales.
Fragrance & Beauty focused on providing a seamless experience for customers, with strong growth in online sales partially offsetting the impact from the decline of travel retail. Skincare had a notably strong performance within the Beauty segment, supported by Le Lift and Sublimage. Meanwhile in Fragrance, Coco Mademoiselle and Bleu continued their success, while No5 has been preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2021, with Marion Cotillard as its new muse.
Despite the dip in sales, the brand focused on resiliency and long-term goals, including sustainability—and investment, with reports of as much as $1 billion. Philippe Blondiaux, Chanel’s global chief financial officer, said, “The strength of the Chanel brand was clearly demonstrated in 2020 as the business delivered a resilient financial performance in what was a very challenging period for our employees, our partners and for the business itself.”
“Chanel’s focus on creativity and innovation, unique savoir-faire and the agility of our teams and our organisation, helped to limit the impact of the crisis. At the same time, Chanel has continued to prioritise investment to support the long-term health of the brand, with record levels of capital expenditure through the year.
“In keeping with our long-term approach and commitment to sustainable business, we also launched our strategy to tackle climate change through Chanel Mission 1.5°. The business has made early progress against the science-based targets we have set, as we look to accelerate the move to a lower carbon economy and help protect the world’s most vulnerable communities and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change.”
2021 Highlights
With sustainability paramount, at the start of the year, Chanel named Kate Wylie as global chief sustainability officer and president of Fondation Chanel.
In February, Chanel launched its first AI try-on beauty app for color, Lipscanner, which can scan colors from print and online sources, and match them with more than 400 of the brand’s lip products. Lip color can also be matched to clothing.
Chanel launched a new line of body care products, as an extension of the Chance fragrance line.
The Chance Body Cleanser and Moisturiser are housed in the brand’s ‘twist and slide’ cap, a Chanel exclusive mechanism that is said to deliver the ideal amount of product.
Chanel launched a new e-commerce platform for its beauty and fragrance shoppers in Singapore. Products are packaged and mailed in the luxury brand’s iconic packaging.
Chanel’s Factory 5 launched 17 limited-edition products that were created to present the No5 fragrance in new ways as the brand celebrates its 100th birthday of the perfume, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Clever packaging for body care products includes a paint can, which holds a scented shower gel and an oil tin that contains body oil.
To guarantee availability, the luxe brand recently purchased an additional large plot of land in the South of France where the jasmine used in its iconic Chanel No.5 fragrance is grown.
Looking Ahead
For first-half 2021, Chanel reported further rebounding sales and a double-digit growth in revenues, saying its full year operating profit margin is expected to return to 2019 levels. Looking ahead, the luxury brand plans to expand its network of standalone beauty and fragrance boutiques.
Read Next: Kosé is #17.
Below is a look at the company's 2021 highlights, recent acquisitions, best-selling brands, and latest innovations.
Corporate Sales
$10 billion
Beauty Sales
$3.4 billion (est.)
Key Personnel
Alain Werthheimer, global chief executive officer and chairman; Gerard Werthheimer, co-chairman; Alain Philippe Blondiaux, chief financial officer; Kate Wylie, global chief sustainability officer and president of Fondation Chanel
Major Products
Fragrances, Skin Care and Color Cosmetics including Fragrances: Chanel No. 5, Allure, Allure Homme, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, No.19, Bleu de Chanel. Skin Care: Sublimage, Ultra Correction Lift and Line Repair, Hydramax + Active, White Essentiel. Color Cosmetics: Rouge Allure, Rouge Coco, Le Vernis, Inimitable, Vitalumière, Joues Contrastes
New Products
Chanel Factory 5, Blue de Chanel, Les Eau de Chanel, Rouge Coco Bloom lipcolor, Le Bain de Chance Scented Bath Tablets, Perles et Éclats de Chanel makeup collection, Le Lift, Sublimage, L’Extrait de Nuit, Sublimage L’Essence de Teint, Hydra Beauty, Massage Oil Collection
Comments
With most of the world hunkered down in 2020 and duty-free airport shopping roped off, luxury sales, including fragrances and cosmetics suffered, and impacted Chanel across the board. Corporate sales fell 18% in 2020, to $10 billion, led by a 36% drop in Europe. When international travel started to resume in the last quarter, the French luxury goods manufacturer saw an uptick in sales.
Fragrance & Beauty focused on providing a seamless experience for customers, with strong growth in online sales partially offsetting the impact from the decline of travel retail. Skincare had a notably strong performance within the Beauty segment, supported by Le Lift and Sublimage. Meanwhile in Fragrance, Coco Mademoiselle and Bleu continued their success, while No5 has been preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2021, with Marion Cotillard as its new muse.
Despite the dip in sales, the brand focused on resiliency and long-term goals, including sustainability—and investment, with reports of as much as $1 billion. Philippe Blondiaux, Chanel’s global chief financial officer, said, “The strength of the Chanel brand was clearly demonstrated in 2020 as the business delivered a resilient financial performance in what was a very challenging period for our employees, our partners and for the business itself.”
“Chanel’s focus on creativity and innovation, unique savoir-faire and the agility of our teams and our organisation, helped to limit the impact of the crisis. At the same time, Chanel has continued to prioritise investment to support the long-term health of the brand, with record levels of capital expenditure through the year.
“In keeping with our long-term approach and commitment to sustainable business, we also launched our strategy to tackle climate change through Chanel Mission 1.5°. The business has made early progress against the science-based targets we have set, as we look to accelerate the move to a lower carbon economy and help protect the world’s most vulnerable communities and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change.”
2021 Highlights
With sustainability paramount, at the start of the year, Chanel named Kate Wylie as global chief sustainability officer and president of Fondation Chanel.
In February, Chanel launched its first AI try-on beauty app for color, Lipscanner, which can scan colors from print and online sources, and match them with more than 400 of the brand’s lip products. Lip color can also be matched to clothing.
Chanel launched a new line of body care products, as an extension of the Chance fragrance line.
The Chance Body Cleanser and Moisturiser are housed in the brand’s ‘twist and slide’ cap, a Chanel exclusive mechanism that is said to deliver the ideal amount of product.
Chanel launched a new e-commerce platform for its beauty and fragrance shoppers in Singapore. Products are packaged and mailed in the luxury brand’s iconic packaging.
Chanel’s Factory 5 launched 17 limited-edition products that were created to present the No5 fragrance in new ways as the brand celebrates its 100th birthday of the perfume, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Clever packaging for body care products includes a paint can, which holds a scented shower gel and an oil tin that contains body oil.
To guarantee availability, the luxe brand recently purchased an additional large plot of land in the South of France where the jasmine used in its iconic Chanel No.5 fragrance is grown.
Looking Ahead
For first-half 2021, Chanel reported further rebounding sales and a double-digit growth in revenues, saying its full year operating profit margin is expected to return to 2019 levels. Looking ahead, the luxury brand plans to expand its network of standalone beauty and fragrance boutiques.
Read Next: Kosé is #17.
