Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Estée Lauder Companies has made a minority investment in the Mexican fragrance brand Xinú through its corporate venture capital arm New Incubation Ventures (NIV), the two companies announced on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2017, Xinú is known for its premium scents with Mexican and wider Latin American influences, such as Aguamadera, $240, which smells like salt and mezcal, and Oronardo, $240, which it describes as a tribute to the Mexican tulip. The brand has carved out a cult following for its half-moon-shaped bottles of perfume and premium sundries like hand soap and candles.
Veronica Peña, one of the brand’s three co-founders, told The Business of Beauty in October that Mexico’s growing tourism had helped grow the business. The influx of wealthy shoppers passing through Mexico City had put its grand, light-filled flagship store in the upmarket Polanco district on many “must-visit” lists.
“The customer [here] is passionate about fragrance, and not shy about what they’re wearing,” she said in October. Her co-founders are Héctor Esrawe, an industrial designer, and Ignacio Cadena, a creative director.
ADVERTISEMENT
Luxury and niche perfumes have seen stratospheric growth in recent years as customers continue to seek out differentiated, artisanal scents. In a statement, Estée Lauder Companies chief executive Stéphane de La Faverie said fragrance craftsmanship is at the heart of its business: in its most recent earnings in October, perfume sales grew 13 percent, and it also opened a new fragrance “atelier” in Paris.
NIV has previously invested in fragrance line Vyrao and British body care brand Haeckels.
Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.
Learn more:
How ‘Made in Mexico’ Perfumes Won Over Niche Customers
Nimble niche perfumers like Xinú, Perfumérica and Laguna Cyprien are riding a wave of popularity with domestic customers and overseas visitors, and finding that building global brands doesn’t always mean US expansion.
