Westman Atelier Kicks Sephora Partnership Into High Gear
With a door expansion and the launch of Face Trace mini contour sticks, the brand is thinking small to go big.
After a successful foray into luxury skin care last year, Westman Atelier is going wider at Sephora — and renewing its focus on entry-level price points.
The makeup brand, cofounded by David Neville and Gucci Westman, is expanding to 252 doors in February. It has also launched minis of its Face Trace contour sticks in all three shades, each priced at $26, across 630 doors.
Fifty-seven percent of Westman Atelier shoppers at Sephora first buy into the brand with minis (it offers smaller sizes of its highlighters and blush sticks), while 60 percent of brand loyalists continue to buy them, according to the brand. For context, the brand was projected to hit $100 million in retail sales in 2023, as reported.
“Our product portfolio is well balanced. We have a significant contribution from a number of collections, which is quite rare,” Neville said. “Sticks are a big part of that. We overindex in complexion and in face, and sticks live in that category. Complexion and face together is more than 50 percent of our business.”
He sees the benefit in customer acquisition, given the minis' outsized store footprint, he said. “That kind of opportunity is incredibly valuable. Our growth at Sephora was up 153 percent,” Neville said. The price of those minis is just over half that of a fullsized Face Trace stick, which retails for $48.
“Any merchant wants to acquire customers at different price points,”
Neville said. “We have overperformed in each step of our expansion with them, and the minis are another layer to getting in front of the 20-million-plus passionate beauty customers."
Westman Atelier entered Sephora online-only in 2021, and slowly started rolling out into physical stores. This February's expansion comes after a proven track record with the retailer. “It's very unusual, but customers come in and buy five or six products from our brand. The behavior is typically more that you get your favorite eye shadow from one brand, and then your favorite lip gloss from another. But this is more of a system and more of a lifestyle brand,” Westman said. “[Customers] are not coming back unless the product is working.”
“We're thrilled to witness the growth of Westman Atelier at Sephora, and the expansion of their petites lineup is yet another exciting milestone,” said Alison Hahn, senior vice president of makeup and fragrance merchandising, Sephora. “With continued attention to detail on both product formulation and elevated packaging, Westman Atelier delivers innovative and high-quality clean makeup products that truly perform.”