Jacquemus shifts to higher gear with beauty market entry, new shareholder L’Oréal

Will 2025 be a decisive year for Jacquemus? The French ready-to-wear label founded in 2009 by Provence-born designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, 19 years old at the time, needs to pivot to new markets and growth drivers to keep up its momentum and move to the next level. Jacquemus has recently reached a new milestone, having inked an exclusive beauty partnership with L’Oréal. A step that is all the more crucial since the French cosmetics giant has also acquired a minority stake of 10% in the label, in order to bolster its “independent growth.”

A source close to the matter said that​​ L’Oréal bought the 10% stake in Jacquemus for “just under €100 million.” Both partners have mentioned a long-term agreement, and are set to develop a perfume as their first joint project. At the conference for the presentation of L’Oréal’s annual results on Friday February 7, the group’s CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said that L’Oréal doesn’t intend to increase its stake in Jacquemus, nor to acquire a fashion brand. “We do happen to own [a fashion label], Mugler, but it came as part of the acquisition of the brand from Clarins,” he said.

“Simon Porte Jacquemus is an amazing genius, and I’m delighted to have convinced him to work with L’Oréal to develop a beauty range,” said Hieronimus, adding that the group believes in and fully supports Jacquemus. According to Hieronimus, this minority investment could also help Jacquemus fund its retail expansion. The latter would be a clear boost for the label, which is actively searching for fresh resources in order to continue to grow, while waiting for the results of its diversification in the thriving beauty market. A project that will take between 18 months and two years to reach completion, according to L’Oréal’s top executives.

Long-standing interest in beauty segment

This is not the first time that Porte Jacquemus is making a foray in the beauty segment, having collaborated with Lancôme (a brand from L’Oréal’s luxury division) by designing a make-up kit in 2014, nor the first time he has sold a minority interest in his label. In 2019, he ceded a 10% stake in the business to Puig. The Spanish group, a benchmark name in the beauty sector, was also set to partner Jacquemus in a beauty project that should have launched in 2022. But Porte Jacquemus bought back the stake that same year, keen to preserve his independence.

Obviously, the situation is now different. Jacquemus has changed dimension, growing from a small family company to an international luxury label of a significant size. In 2018, the label generated a revenue of €11.5 million. It jumped to €100 million in 2021, and soared to €270-€280 million in 2023, according to market estimates. A Parisian label with a Mediterranean vibe, renowned for its sunny, colourful fashion, and for its track record in highly popular accessories, like the famous miniature handbags and giant straw hats, Jacquemus has changed tack in recent years, adopting a diversification and premiumisation strategy, strengthening its links with the art world and transforming its brand image.

This was evident at Jacquemus’s recent comeback show at Paris Fashion Week Men, after a five-year absence. Instead of staging an event attracting a large crowd, Porte Jacquemus invited only 40 guests, mostly celebrities, to discover his new creations for Fall/Winter 2025-26, presenting a very “haute couture” collection, as he now likes to describe his fashion.

Porte Jacquemus was also keen to make an impression with potential investors. Last October, he commissioned investment bank Rothschild & Co. to find a financial partner. As he said at the time to French newspaper Le Figaro: “I value my independence, I want to pass on the business to my children, but I need to break the glass ceiling and find the right minority partner.”

In order to keep growing, the company had no choice but to find fresh resources externally. Thanks to L’Oréal’s investment, it now has greater heft. Jacquemus debuted with women’s ready-to-wear, then expanded its assortment with a men’s line in 2018 and a childrenswear range in 2023, while adding accessories (handbags, shoes, eyewear, hats, and jewellery) and home decoration items to its portfolio.   

In parallel, the label, still chiefly distributed through its e-shop and a network of multibrand retailers, began to develop its own fleet of monobrand stores. Jacquemus opened a first store on Avenue Montaigne in Paris in September 2022, followed by one in Dubai, UAE, in 2024, run in partnership with the Chalhoub group. In October, it inaugurated a store in New York’s trendy SoHo district, and the following month another one in London, on New Bond Street.

Jacquemus has also added to its staff. Notably, it is said to have hired a new CEO, poaching Sarah Benady from LVMH-owned Celine, where she was in charge of North America. The CEO role had been vacant since December 2023, following Bastien Daguzan’s departure. The news has been reported by various media outlets but hasn’t been confirmed by Jacquemus. In early 2024, the label created the post of commercial director, tapping Mélissa Ait-Ouakli from LVMH.

2025 is therefore set to be a pivotal year for Jacquemus, despite the fact that, given the luxury market’s slowdown and the investments committed to the international expansion push, the label’s pace is likely to decelerate, with a revenue downturn expected for fiscal 2024.