The makeup push continues apace at Tom Ford Beauty, starting with a new focus on lips and a top-tier spokesperson.
Angelina Jolie, the brand’s first celebrity beauty face, will front Runway Lip Color, which will be available globally in full in September with 18 shades (10 existing, eight new). It will replace the existing Lip Color lipstick line. The refresh also includes Runway Lip Pencils, available in eight shades. Prices range from $46 for the pencils to $62 for the lipsticks.
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The move comes at a critical time for the company. Parent company Estée Lauder Cos., which acquired Tom Ford for $2.3 billion in 2023, said in an SEC filing that in fiscal 2024, “net sales [for makeup] Sales from Tom Ford declined primarily due to lower net sales in the lip subcategory.”
But fragrance appears to be a brighter spot. Lauder’s luxury fragrances (in which Tom Ford is a major player) grew in the mid-single digits, according to the filing.
Still, the health of the business depends on the lip business getting back on track. The brand is one of the biggest categories in the business overall, after fragrance, and the biggest among Tom Ford’s makeup lines, said Guillaume Jesel, the brand’s president and CEO. Jesel took the top spot last year after working on the brand for nearly a decade.
“Tom Ford Beauty is well on its way to reaching $1 billion in annual net sales in the next few years,” Jesel said, confirming previous reports that the brand was nearing that milestone. Jesel would not comment on Runway Lip Color’s sales, but industry sources expect the line to reach $50 million at retail in its first 12 months on the market.
“We’ve had consistent growth over time. It’s sustainable and very profitable, especially post-acquisition,” he said. Lauder’s purchase of the overall business at a $2.8 billion valuation marks the beauty giant’s first foray into fashion and eyewear, with Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Marcolin holding licenses for Tom Ford fashion and Tom Ford eyewear, respectively.
Jesel’s expanded remit has influenced the way she thinks about beauty and how the various products work together. “Beauty, fashion and eyewear are the brand’s most important verticals,” she said. “The brand is poised to stay strong, and that starts with brand equity. Tom Ford’s long-term licensees understand the shared vision of what luxury means, how to build a brand and how to scale.”
Part of that vision, Jesel said, is bridging the gap between the fashion and beauty businesses. “The three verticals mirror each other and have always worked in harmony under Tom. My role is to support how they come together and stay true to Tom’s vision.”
Ford left the company last year and was replaced by Peter Hawkings as the helm of creative leadership. Hawkings announced his departure last month. Jesel declined to comment on the search for new creative talent, but said that “along with the creative director and licensees, [Ford’s] opinion.”
Zegna Group reported in July that sales at Tom Ford’s fashion business reached 148.5 million euros in the first half, a 4.7 percent increase driven by the U.S. and the brand’s website.
Jesel’s mission is to “continue to lead Tom Ford as a unified brand across verticals and to unify strategy, brand codes, innovation in fashion, beauty and eyewear,” he said. “We need to attract world-class talent, and that means creative product development and marketing.”
The renewed products are called Runway Lip Color, reflecting this blueprint. “Runway is one of our franchises to communicate the connection to fashion as the brand becomes more mainstream,” Jesel said. “The lip is the ultimate fashion accessory, the carrier of the brand DNA and at the core of the brand identity.”
To that end, Jolie’s campaign, lensed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, reflects Ford’s own work as an auteur. “In terms of the celebrity aspect, the connection to the film is something that comes naturally. Tom is a filmmaker and he shot most of his own photographs,” Jesel said. “His connection to the film and the cinematic aspect of the visual imagery he created for this brand set him apart and became an integral part of our DNA.”
In the images, Jolie wears the sports hero shade Scarlet Rouge. “It’s such a beautiful color and texture,” Jolie said via email. “A good red lipstick doesn’t need much else. It’s applied consciously. That was part of the discussion.”
Its appeal mimics the broad net Jesel cast with the relaunch. “It appeals to a broad demographic and has global appeal. We’re multi-branded internationally and well diversified around the world. And its appeal to Gen Z is very interesting,” he said.
The new color range includes classics like Scarlet Rouge, designed to appeal to a diverse audience, as well as an expanded range of nudes. “The two moves that brought the Tom Ford brand to a younger audience were the specialty and multi-store launch and the launch in China,” Jesel said. “The average consumer in China is a little bit younger, and the brand has a broad appeal.”
Lauder continues to focus on China, where the prestige beauty market is said to be weakening.
Photos of the campaign will be released in September, followed by a film in October. “The lip is a category used in the public sphere, and when we talk about makeup, we talk about the transformative power of makeup and finding a different personality within yourself,” Jesel said.
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