The Hut Group, one of the world’s largest online health and beauty retailers recently announced the addition of the cosmetic brand Illamasqua to its extensive list of brands. Known for housing many other popular health, beauty, and lifestyle companies, The Hut Group picked up Illamasqua at a crucial time in the brand’s identity development.
Illamasqua
Illamasqua is a brand best known for their dedication to creativity, passion for diversity, and self-expression. The brand is a portmanteau of the words illusion and masquerade. Just a couple of months ago, Illamasqua was in the limelight for hiring transgender model Munroe Bergdorf after L’Oreal fired her for an unrelated disagreement over racism. With a history in theatrical stage makeup, they have quickly become a global face for diversity with a large following including makeup artists, celebrities, and trans* consumers.
Their philosophy is simple and intentional: “You Are Beauty”, as they encourage anyone and everyone to feel confident expressing their individuality in a society growing more tolerant of less-than-usual forms of beauty.
The Hut Group and Inclusion
Whether it was intentional or not, The Hut Group just became a lot more inclusive. By acquiring Illamasqua, they also acquired their same diverse customer base. An important value for millennials, inclusion in marketing is a fairly recent concept.
A decade or two ago, there was almost no representation of the LGBTQ community. We have come a long way since and while we now see more marketing towards gay, lesbian, and bisexual consumers, marketing to trans* people is still developing.
Online retailers, like The Hut Group, have an advantage over the classic brick and mortar stores with privacy and accessibility. Whereas most people are comfortable shopping in person, many are still not, especially if they are buying products considered to be outside of their “norm” (for example, trans* consumers and makeup products).
Given the current greater acceptance of mixed gender or gender-neutral people, this may prove to be a smart move on behalf of both companies. The Hut Group and Illamasqua both have high hopes and positive expectations for the future.
The Founder and CEO of The Hut Group, Matthew Moulding had this to say: “I am delighted we are adding Illamasqua to The Hut Group’s growing portfolio of beauty brands. In Illamasqua’s unwavering commitment to professional, high-quality products and creativity, not to mention its strong identity, we saw a business with a unique proposition and an opportunity to take a strong and dynamic brand to the next level. We are confident that, with our world-class e-commerce platform and large marketing infrastructure, we will deliver significant growth and further extend Illamasqua’s global customer base. This investment is another step in our ambition of becoming the world’s largest online retailer of Health & Beauty products by 2018.”
