ARTICLES
Explore our latest insights on the beauty, luxury, and lifestyle industries. At Carrara Advisory, we combine decades of hands-on experience with deep market understanding to provide actionable perspectives on strategy, innovation, and growth. Here, we share our thinking on the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of your business.
The Real COGS Killer: Bad Planning.
Small and mid-sized beauty brands don’t ruin their margins because of component prices, but because they produce too often in small batches - poor planning, not suppliers, is the real COGS killer.
The Eugevity Era: Joi+Blokes and HerMD Lead the Health Revolution
The acquisition of HerMD by Joi+Blokes marks a new era in virtual healthcare, combining diagnostic rigor, clinical specialization, and Eugevity‑focused preventive care to transform how adults manage their long-term health and vitality.
Brands vs Manufacturers: Decoding the Numbers
Brands and manufacturers follow distinct financial and operational models, with brands driving growth and high margins through marketing and consumer engagement, while manufacturers generate stable, volume-driven revenue through operational efficiency, offering investors complementary opportunities across risk, profitability, and scalability.
Crossroads: Kering’s Current Challenges and the Road Ahead
Kering stands at a critical crossroads where restoring Gucci, streamlining operations, clarifying group identity and exploring bold strategic moves such as mergers, Eyewear monetization or deep digital transformation will determine whether it emerges as a more diversified, resilient and operationally disciplined luxury leader or remains overly dependent on a single brand.
Performance: The Financial Backbone of Kering’s Transformation
Kering’s financial performance over the past two decades reflects the payoff, and limits, of its luxury-focused strategy, showing how margin expansion, working capital evolution, and leverage dynamics shaped the group’s profitability and balance sheet strength.
Reinvention: Kering’s Strategic Transformation
Kering’s evolution from a timber business into a focused luxury powerhouse reflects six decades of deliberate reinvention - driven by bold acquisitions, disciplined divestitures, and a constant reallocation of capital and talent toward high-value, brand-driven growth.
In-House vs Licensing: Strategic Choices and the Cost of Control
While licensing offers a low-risk, capital-light entry and in-house delivers greater control, profitability, and long-term brand equity, the most effective path is not fixed but depends on each brand’s context.
In-House vs. Licensing: Why Luxury Fashion Houses Struggle with Beauty.
Luxury fashion houses are increasingly re-evaluating the balance between licensing and in-house beauty operations, with mixed success, as seen in the contrasting strategies of Hermès, Chanel, Kering, Richemont, and Dolce & Gabbana.
Proya Group: The Blueprint of China’s Rising Beauty Empires
Proya Group’s rise from a local Chinese skincare brand to a digitally-driven, multi-brand powerhouse exemplifies how China’s new beauty empires combine data-driven insight, agile brand management, and strategic sequencing to scale domestically and prepare for global expansion.
The Retailer Taking the European Landscape by Storm: Action!
Action has transformed from a single Dutch discount store in 1993 into Europe’s fastest-growing non-food retailer, now spanning over 3,000 stores and €13.8 billion in revenue by 2024. Its unique mix of low prices, operational excellence, and a “treasure hunt” shopping experience has fueled both rapid expansion and rising store productivity - a rare feat in value retail
Private Equity is Shaping the Next Generation of CDMOs - 1Q Health Case
The beauty and wellness industries are converging, driving rapid growth, and pushing traditional CMOs further evolve into full-service CDMOs offering end-to-end solutions from formulation to brand support. Private equity is now shaping this space by building next-generation platforms that combine speed, scientific credibility, and integrated services to meet the rising demand.
Douglas Unleashed: Revenue, Risk, and the Road to a Balanced Future
Douglas has grown into a pan-European omnichannel beauty platform, with revenue increasingly driven by Southern Europe and CEE, while mature markets face margin pressure. Its biggest operational challenge remains elevated inventory, tying up cash and amplifying risk, making efficiency the key lever for unlocking free cash flow.
From Vanity Table to Kitchen: Beauty Brands Expanding Inside-Out
Beauty brands are expanding from traditional topical products into ingestible supplements that enhance skin, hair, and overall wellness from the inside out. While these products complement rather than replace skincare routines, adoption faces challenges and brands look for strategic opportunities.
Intercos: The Unseen Force Powering the World’s Biggest Beauty Brands
Intercos doesn’t sell to consumers, yet it shapes what millions apply daily. With strategic acquisitions, a “glocal” footprint, and a laser focus on R&D, Intercos has gone from Milan startup to global force powering most of the world’s top 30 beauty brands and hitting €1B+ revenues despite major disruptions.
Indie Beauty’s Breaking Point: Lessons from Ami Colé and Youthforia
In the indie beauty space, purpose and product are no longer enough. Survival now depends on the unglamorous pillars of business: strong operations, diversified channels, repeatable revenue, and scale-ready capital. Brands that chase virality without building infrastructure or trust are lighting fuses they may not be able to control.
Behind the Brand: Why CDMOs and Incubators Are Not Interchangeable
Understanding the difference between a CDMO and a beauty incubator is essential for anyone building or scaling a brand. While CDMOs focus on execution and manufacturing, incubators bring strategy, creativity, and market insight to turn ideas into lasting businesses.
Roblox and Shopify: A New Era of E-Commerce for Beauty Brands
Roblox’s integration with Shopify is revolutionizing beauty brand commerce by enabling immersive, interactive virtual experiences that drive direct physical product sales - especially for makeup brands targeting Gen Z - while skincare and fragrance are still finding their footing in this digital frontier.
Beauty Incubators: Nurturing Innovation in the Global Beauty Industry
Beauty incubators play a crucial role in nurturing innovation within the global beauty industry by providing emerging brands with mentorship, resources, and funding to overcome challenges and achieve commercial success. They shape the future of beauty through category diversification, technological integration, and strategic partnerships.
How Much It Really Costs to Launch a Beauty Brand
Launching a successful beauty brand to $5M in revenue within two years requires an investment of $3M to $8M, depending on the category (skincare, makeup, or fragrance) and key factors like brand positioning, formulation complexity, marketing strategy, and distribution model.
The Brand Positioning Divide. Store Counts vs Revenues.
In the fashion and luxury industry, there’s a clear divide between high-end luxury brands and more accessible ones when it comes to store count and revenue. High-end brands show a steep, exponential growth curve, with revenue skyrocketing as the number of stores increases. In contrast, accessible brands exhibit a more linear growth, with a smaller slope. This analysis considers over 100 fashion and luxury brands.