Tom Ford Expands His Beauty Collection

Products from the Tom Ford Beauty collection

(Photo Credit: Thomas Iannaccone/WWD)

Tom Ford sets out to redefine the world of prestige beauty with the launch of his expanded color collection in September.
With five FIFI awards under his belt, total Tom Ford Beauty global retail sales estimated at $150 million, a strong debut of his lip color collection (retail sales of $6 million in just 100 stores!), plus a resurgence in consumers' appetite for luxury products, the time is right for Mr. Ford and Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. to expand.

Here are the deets for the beauty mavens:

• The color cosmetics collection will have 132 products, including six skin care products, ranging in price from $30 to $250
• The collection includes contouring products Shade and Illuminate cream duet, heavily pigmented lip glosses like Lost Cherry and caligraphy tip brow pens
• Skin care products include Traceless Foundation Stick, Illuminating Protective Primer, Purifying Crème Cleanser and Intensive Infusion Concentrate Extreme, which is an oil-based serum.
• The Private Blend Lip Color Collection includes 18 shades (up from 12) and will retail at $48
• Two new Private Blend Collection fragrances: Santal Blush and Jasmine Rouge priced from $195 to $475
• A new Signature Collection fragrance: Violet Blonde.

Keeping in line with Mr. Ford's exclusivity mantra, the new color line will only be in 35 doors worldwide, and sold in Tom Ford stores, Berdorf Goodman, and select Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the U.S.. Overseas, Italy’s La Rinascente and the U.K.’s Harvey Nichols and Selfridges will carry the line. A rollout in Asia is planned within 18 months of its launch.

The lip color and new fragrances will have a slightly wider global distribution -- 100 and 225 doors respectively -- and will be sold in the aforementioned stores, as well as Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. In the U.S., Saks will get a four-week exclusive on Violet Blonde in August before the fragrance is rolled out to other stores.

Industry sources estimate the line to do $40 million in global retail sales the first year, and $400-$500 million globally in five years.

(SOURCE: Estée Lauder Puts Together a Prestige Brand - WWD)

Elizabeth Arden Posts Narrow Loss, Stock Down on View

Elizabeth Arden posts loss, stock down on view

LOS ANGELES, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Elizabeth Arden (RDEN.O) reported a narrower quarterly loss on Thursday as shoppers continued to spend conservatively on perfume and face creams, but shares fell 4.1 percent after its 2010 profit forecast missed expectations.

Net loss at Arden was $3.6 million, or 13 cents per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June, 30, narrowing from its year-earlier net loss of $10.4 million, or 38 cents per share.

Excluding restructuring and other expenses, its net loss was 7 cents per share. That just beat the 8-cent loss expected by analysts, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net sales at Arden, which sells Prevage anti-aging cream and perfumes by celebrities such as Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, fell 10 percent to $212.6 million. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation, net sales declined 5.8 percent.

For its fiscal year ended June 2010, the company forecast a 2 percent to 3.5 percent increase in sales and earnings per share in the range of 50 cents to 65 cents per share.

Analysts, on average were looking for a 2010 profit of 72 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares in Arden, which closed at $10.45, fell to $10.02 in extended trade on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein and Aarthi Sivaraman in Seattle; Editing Bernard Orr) 

(SOURCE: Reuters.com)

U.S. Prestige Beauty Sales Decline 3.3%

A report released by marketing research firm, NPD Group, Inc. shows that U.S. sales of prestige beauty products dropped 3.3% in 2008.

Among the global markets that were tracked by NPD, the U.S. prestige market -- which are products sold mainly in U.S. department stores -- showed the largest decline. France and Italy showed decreases of 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, while China boasted an increase of 17.2%.

U.S. makeup sales also showed a decline, but there was a bright spot in the skincare category. Overall growth in the category remained flat, however NPD says that there is opportunity for growth due to increase interest in anti-aging skincare products.

Karen Grant, NPD's senior global industry analyst and vice president of beauty, said that U.S. fragrance category showed the biggest decline in sales of all the categories that were tracked. “The most pressing concerns for the fragrance category are not only the loss of users, but decreasing frequency of usage," said Ms. Grant. "It is important that the industry find new ways to engage consumers, especially as they become more independent about their product selection".