The Debrief | How Harry Styles Built a Nail Polish Empire

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Background:

Harry Styles has managed to pull off a feat that has eluded countless celebrities, despite their many attempts: Building a popular beauty brand. He’s managed to do so even while taking a backseat when it comes to running Pleasing, his lifestyle line which predominantly sells nail polish as well as skin care and sweatshirts. Since launching in November 2022, Styles has not talked much about Pleasing publicly or on social media. But, the brand, created in partnership with his stylist Harry Lambert and creative director Molly Hawkins, has generated a plugged-in community of loyalists nonetheless.

“[Celebrities] are coming out with these really full lines that have nothing to do with what they’ve been about before. Pleasing really feels like Harry … like you’re getting a piece of Harry when you buy [products],” said Priya Rao, executive editor, Business of Beauty.

Key Insights:

• The Pleasing team, including stylist Harry Lambert and creative director Molly Hawkins, have distilled Styles’ aesthetic into a burgeoning brand — with fans who feel they’re buying a piece of the singer when they shop.
• Styles’ hands off approach has given the brand an interesting air of mystery, and his fanatical fans have helped build hype by visiting the brands’ maximalist pop-ups and collecting every colour of polish.
• Just because a celebrity or influencer has fans doesn’t mean their brand will be a hit — products have to be effective and messaging has to be on point for a label to have staying power.

Additional resources:

• Why Harry Styles Fans Can’t Get Enough of Pleasing: The singer’s nail polish brand isn’t following the usual celebrity beauty brand playbook, where “authenticity” and newness are key. When your fans are this rabid, it turns out none of the usual rules apply.
• Why Do We Root Against Celebrity Beauty Brands? Two of the most talked about celebrity skin care brands make their debut this month – Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and Kim Kardashian’s SKKN by Kim. But are consumers getting tired of celebrity beauty lines?
• The State of the Celebrity Beauty Brand: Collaborations with musicians like Iggy Azalea and Doja Cat weren’t enough to save BH Cosmetics, which filed for bankruptcy this month.
• Why Male Celebrities Are Launching Nail Lines: Machine Gun Kelly is the latest to get into the fast-growing nail polish category.