Glossier, the cult beauty brand, is transforming the way women use makeup. Emily Weiss, founder and ‘disruptor’, shares her vision for the cosmetics industry that’s made her start-up worth $1.2bn in five years
Halfway down an expensive shopping street in Covent Garden, a few weeks before Christmas, two women stand outside a large glassy facade, wielding clipboards with intent. Their presence suggests the opening of an exclusive club, perhaps, or the private view for a buzzy new art exhibition. There is a small, discreet “Glossier” on each door. In two days’ time, this London pop-up for the cosmetics and skincare brand will open to customers, who will begin to form queues that snake down the street. Social media will be filled with glowing Glossier hashtags and posts demanding that the brand “take my money”, alongside artfully filtered pictures of its floral rooms, each decorated in bespoke, multicoloured, William Morris-inspired wallpaper. This is retail as theatre, and Glossier is a hot ticket.
For now, only invited influencers and editors flit through its floral chambers, nibbling on macarons, sipping Champagne and snapping pics. The back room, in particular, is a hit. It has no products in it, just a recreation of the rooftop of a London house, almost life-sized, millennial pink, Rachel Whiteread by way of The Virgin Suicides. Guests pose in the Glossier-branded mirror that fills the wall opposite, the chimney stacks looming over their shoulders. Other mirrors bear the three feel-good words that sum up the ethos of the company that many say has shown the beauty industry a new way to operate. They are a gentle squeeze of the shoulder, an affirming pep talk, a stranger’s compliment on the bus: “You Look Good.”
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