Make-up artist Bobbi Brown will step down from her eponymous brand by the end of 2016, having founded it 25 years ago. The brand's owner, Estée Lauder Companies, confirmed the news in a statement, adding that global brand president Peter Lichtenthal will continue to oversee the business.
“I am thankful for the extraordinary people that I’ve had the privilege to work with over the years and proud of the creative endeavours and innovative products we’ve created together,” Brown stated. “And the Lauder family, for the many opportunities they gave me.”
Brown's brand was born when the make-up artist found herself on a quest to create lipstick that was flattering for all skin tones. "I was always fixing bad lipstick," she explained to Alexandra Shulman at the Vogue Festival in 2015. "I wanted to make a lipstick that looked like lips." And so she did, recruiting a chemist she met on a shoot to formulate her first ever product - the ultimate nude lipstick. "He made it for me, and it was the colour of my lips. I didn't know nude was going to be the big name in make-up, but it was nude."
But whilst Brown's business nous seems to have come naturally - she went on to pave the way for the "natural" beauty craze that still grips the cosmetics customer today - she says that creating a multinational company in her name was never her goal.
"I have never ever thought about being a businesswoman, being someone in the public eye - and certainly not with such a giant business. If there was a crystal ball I'd have run the other way," she said. "But what I love is being able to bring something to the market that actually changes women's lives - and then people get to buy it and I get to make more things."
Brown's next steps are as yet unknown, but in the statement released today she hinted that her brand’s 25th anniversary was a milestone “that made me realise it was time to start a new chapter and move on to new ventures”. Whatever those new ventures may be, the beauty world will be eagerly awaiting them.
