Dive Brief:
- U.K.-based skin care brand The Inkey List named Stephanie Davis Michelman as its new chief executive officer, according to a Friday press release.
- Michelman takes over the role from company co-founders and executive directors Colette Laxton and Mark Curry, who will maintain active roles at the brand.
- The new chief executive has over 20 years of experience and most recently served as the global chief marketing officer for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy-owned Benefit Cosmetics. Prior to that, Michelman was the general manager at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in North America and chief marketing officer at Nest New York.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 2018, The Inkey List — which is focused on affordable skin care — brings on Michelman amid an effort to drive global growth.
"We are incredibly excited to welcome Stephanie into the Inkey family,” Laxton and Curry said in a statement. “The brand has seen phenomenal growth over the last four and a half years, and we have ambitious plans to maintain this momentum by making skincare simple and accessible globally. Stephanie is an ideal fit for us, possessing the brand DNA, beauty industry, and commercial expertise necessary to continue Inkey's exponential growth."
Looking forward to the brand’s next growth phase, Michelman said in a statement that she is "beyond excited to join Mark and Colette and their team at The Inkey List. In a short time, Mark and Colette have built an incredibly strong brand that has carved out a unique space in the beauty industry.”
The skin care brand has seen a six-fold revenue increase over the past three years and sold over 50 million products globally to date, according to the company. While The Inkey List does sell through its own direct-to-consumer website, it also began selling through Sephora in 2019 and is available in stores and on the retailer’s website. The brand also sells through Cult Beauty and Boots.
Michelman’s appointment comes over a year after the brand announced a significant minority investment from private equity firm Aria Growth Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aria Growth Partners joined The Inkey List’s board alongside Unilever Ventures.
