In any celebrity-branded business, it’s difficult to separate the truth from the hype. When the celebrity in question happens to be a member of the Kardashian clan, the task becomes even more daunting. However, after months of speculation, fashion industry insiders finally have insight into just how successful Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics is.
Speaking to WWD, Kylie’s mom, Kris Jenner, revealed that the makeup line started only 18 months ago had amassed $420 million in sales and is tracking at 25% year-over-year growth for 2017.
As the magazine points out, fashion juggernaut Tom Ford took nearly a decade to reach $500 million in sales with his Tom Ford Beauty line, which was considered astronomical growth at the time. Speculation had run rampant about the revenues that Kylie Cosmetics was pulling in since the then-19-year-old introduced her lip kits to voracious demand, selling through the first run of product in under 60 seconds.
Now that the numbers have been revealed (with the documentation to back them up, per the report), it’s clear that the nascent line has proved more durable and more successful than many detractors would like to admit. And while this Instagram post may be coming from a proud mother first, there’s little doubt that the term “game changer” is very much warranted.
While mapping the trajectory of a year-and-a-half-old business predicated on celebrity branding is a dicey proposition, the growth projections for 2017 suggest that this endeavor is more sustainable than almost anyone anticipated, with the family looking to 2022 as the year the company enters the rarefied air of $1 billion in sales.
It’s unlikely that the revelation will change anyone’s opinion on Kylie or the rest of the Kardashians, but Kyle Cosmetics is founded and operated by a 20 year old. Perhaps the initial sales could be attributed to her celebrity and the power of 96 million Instagram followers, but with the reveal of the company’s unprecedented success, those doubters and skeptics will have trouble with the assertion that a personal brand fails to equate to a legitimate, if not booming, business.
