Latest news with #AmiColé
Fashion Network
8 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Melanin-rich skin beauty brand Ami Colé to close
Black-owned beauty brand Ami Colé has announced plans to shutter operations this September, with brand founder Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye saying she couldn't compete with "the deep pockets of corporate brands." N'Diaye-Mbaye, who founded Ami Colé in 2021, cut her teeth at L'Oréal and Glossier before creating her minimalist makeup brand for "melanin-rich skin." In the last four years, Ami Colé drew investments from L'Oréal's Bold venture capital arm, True Beauty Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Greycroft and Debut Capital. In 2022, the brand inked a milestone retail partnership with LVMH -owned beauty retailer, Sephora, across the U.S. and Canada. In 2024, at the time of its L'Oréal investment, the brand was said to have grown its revenue 75 percent the previous year, according to a press release. In a letter written for The Cut, N'Diaye-Mbaye said that part of her company's downfall was competition from more prominent companies that had bigger financial backing. 'I couldn't compete with the deep pockets of corporate brands; at retail stores, prime shelf space comes at a price, and we couldn't afford it," she said. The entrepreneur went on to thank her fans and investors via her brand's Instagram account. "After four powerful and soul-stretching years, l've made the hard decision to wind down Ami Colé. What started as a mission to create clean beauty for melanin-rich skin became a movement and a metaphoric home for so many of you (just like what my mother built with her salon). We were a brand rooted in purpose, storytelling, and the bold celebration of who we are," said N'Diaye-Mbaye. "Let's not forget bomb ass products! This moment is bittersweet. You've witnessed me start from a sketch in my Brooklyn apartment to the shelves of every Sephora in North America in four years. Thank you for everything you've taught me about living your dreams out loud." The announcement comes after beauty heavyweights Estée Lauder, Coty, and Shiseido Americas announced plans to reduce their workforce, signalling industry-wide headwinds.
Fashion Network
10 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Melanin-rich skin beauty brand Ami Colé to close
Black-owned beauty brand Ami Colé has announced plans to shutter operations this September, with brand founder Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye saying she couldn't compete with "the deep pockets of corporate brands." N'Diaye-Mbaye, who founded Ami Colé in 2021, cut her teeth at L'Oréal and Glossier before creating her minimalist makeup brand for "melanin-rich skin." In the last four years, Ami Colé drew investments from L'Oréal's Bold venture capital arm, True Beauty Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Greycroft and Debut Capital. In 2022, the brand inked a milestone retail partnership with LVMH -owned beauty retailer, Sephora, across the U.S. and Canada. In 2024, at the time of its L'Oréal investment, the brand was said to have grown its revenue 75 percent the previous year, according to a press release. In a letter written for The Cut, N'Diaye-Mbaye said that part of her company's downfall was competition from more prominent companies that had bigger financial backing. 'I couldn't compete with the deep pockets of corporate brands; at retail stores, prime shelf space comes at a price, and we couldn't afford it," she said. The entrepreneur went on to thank her fans and investors via her brand's Instagram account. "After four powerful and soul-stretching years, l've made the hard decision to wind down Ami Colé. What started as a mission to create clean beauty for melanin-rich skin became a movement and a metaphoric home for so many of you (just like what my mother built with her salon). We were a brand rooted in purpose, storytelling, and the bold celebration of who we are," said N'Diaye-Mbaye. "Let's not forget bomb ass products! This moment is bittersweet. You've witnessed me start from a sketch in my Brooklyn apartment to the shelves of every Sephora in North America in four years. Thank you for everything you've taught me about living your dreams out loud." The announcement comes after beauty heavyweights Estée Lauder, Coty, and Shiseido Americas announced plans to reduce their workforce, signalling industry-wide headwinds.
Fashion Network
10 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Melanin-rich skin beauty brand Ami Colé to close
Black-owned beauty brand Ami Colé has announced plans to shutter operations this September, with brand founder Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye saying she couldn't compete with "the deep pockets of corporate brands." N'Diaye-Mbaye, who founded Ami Colé in 2021, cut her teeth at L'Oréal and Glossier before creating her minimalist makeup brand for "melanin-rich skin." In the last four years, Ami Colé drew investments from L'Oréal's Bold venture capital arm, True Beauty Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Greycroft and Debut Capital. In 2022, the brand inked a milestone retail partnership with LVMH -owned beauty retailer, Sephora, across the U.S. and Canada. In 2024, at the time of its L'Oréal investment, the brand was said to have grown its revenue 75 percent the previous year, according to a press release. In a letter written for The Cut, N'Diaye-Mbaye said that part of her company's downfall was competition from more prominent companies that had bigger financial backing. 'I couldn't compete with the deep pockets of corporate brands; at retail stores, prime shelf space comes at a price, and we couldn't afford it," she said. The entrepreneur went on to thank her fans and investors via her brand's Instagram account. "After four powerful and soul-stretching years, l've made the hard decision to wind down Ami Colé. What started as a mission to create clean beauty for melanin-rich skin became a movement and a metaphoric home for so many of you (just like what my mother built with her salon). We were a brand rooted in purpose, storytelling, and the bold celebration of who we are," said N'Diaye-Mbaye. "Let's not forget bomb ass products! This moment is bittersweet. You've witnessed me start from a sketch in my Brooklyn apartment to the shelves of every Sephora in North America in four years. Thank you for everything you've taught me about living your dreams out loud." The announcement comes after beauty heavyweights Estée Lauder, Coty, and Shiseido Americas announced plans to reduce their workforce, signalling industry-wide headwinds.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ami Colé, the Black-owned Makeup Brand Sold at Sephora, to Close
Ami Colé is set to close in September. The brand, founded by Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye in 2021, will cease operations in September. More from WWD Chris McMillan Launches Namesake Hair Care Line at Sephora, Bringing Decades of Expertise to Styling Products EXCLUSIVE: Billy Porter Launches Black Mona Lisa, a Makeup and Skin Care Brand for Beauty Explorers Elegant Beauty Looks Paraded Down Couture Catwalks The decision comes on the heels of an expansion with Ami Colé's partnership with Sephora in 2024, and it counted L'Oréal's BOLD venture capital arm, True Beauty Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Greycroft and Debut Capital as investors. 'I'm genuinely curious about the fate of this beauty industry — that is so multifaceted and complex, and more complex than the pace of which we're measuring success,' N'Diaye-Mbaye told WWD of the decision. 'Partners like Sephora are really trying their best, but there needs to be a sit-down of all of the minds, the brands, the retailers and the investors in the community to understand if we are going to all hold hands together or say 'we don't care' together. The misalignment is really painful.' N'Diaye-Mbaye first revealed the decision to shutter the brand in an essay in New York Magazine's The Cut Thursday. N'Diaye-Mbaye spent time in media and working at both L'Oréal and Glossier before creating the brand, which was meant to tap into the no-makeup-makeup aesthetic for melanin-rich skin. 'It was very clear that Black experiences and Black beauty were very much in the peripheral view and not really celebrated in their true glory,' she said at the time of the brand's debut. Ami Colé launched after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the ensuing rush of financial and retail support for Black-owned brands. As reported, that landscape has changed considerably, with funding drying up for Black-owned brands and broader DE&I rollbacks under the current presidential administration hindering institutional support. 'I worked really hard as a solo founder, and every single one of my investors can attest that I have turned every rock and stone and pebble to make sure that we were as diligent as possible,' N'Diaye-Mbaye said. 'Are we a business? Yes. Do businesses fail? Yes.' Businesses of all sizes are feeling the heat, with the Estée Lauder Cos., Coty Inc. and most recently, Shiseido Americas reducing their headcounts. 'I came to the table sometimes with a lot of very hard questions that, being a pioneer and the first brand to do a lot of things, especially at this speed, couldn't be answered,' she said. 'I can only say I tried my very, very best; I wish the fate was different. I wish this was a billion-dollar company, and every investor I spoke to in 2019 and 2020 believed it could be. It's sad that that could not come to fruition.' Best of WWD The Best Makeup in Grammys History: Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Cher and More Iconic Red Carpet Looks A Look Back at Grammys Best Makeup on the Red Carpet: Beyonce, Dua Lipa and More Photos The Best Eyeliner Brand According to Stacey Bendet, Queen of the Black Smokey Eye Solve the daily Crossword
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Business
- Cosmopolitan
Ami Colé is closing: It's time to wake up before another Black-owned beauty brand disappears
I'm exhausted. Tired in a bone-deep, soul-sapped, can't-believe-we're-here-again kind of way. I almost didn't write this letter because it feels like déjà vu wrapped in heartbreak. The news that Ami Colé, one of the most beloved Black-owned beauty brands, is shuttering after a wildly successful four-year run is as devastating as it is familiar. We know the stats. They're damning. Less than 0.1 percent of venture capital funding goes to Black women entrepreneurs. That's not just a missed opportunity — it's an intentional failure of imagination, investment, and equity. I've dedicated my career to celebrating, uplifting, and advocating for diversity and inclusion in beauty. And yet, most days, it feels like I'm preaching to the choir or screaming into the void. I've used every platform I've been blessed to hold — my voice, my bylines, my seat at the proverbial (and sometimes literal) table — to spotlight the undeniable brilliance of Black-owned brands. And still, I watch them disappear one by one. So now, I'm talking to you: the billion-dollar conglomerates and investors with deep pockets. The legacy houses and corporate giants with the power and purse strings to change the narrative. Yes, I'm talking to you, L'Oréal Groupe, Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Unilever Global, Proctor & Gamble, Coty Inc., Shiseido Company, e.l.f. Beauty Inc., and all the rest. You with the billion-dollar budgets who know how to write the checks that shift culture and make us all feel oh-so-beautiful. You who made room for rhode, Drunk Elephant, OUAI, and Hourglass Cosmetics, to name a few (and no shade — those were solid plays). So, let's not pretend the bank accounts are suddenly empty when it comes to funding Black-owned brilliance. There is money. There is infrastructure. There is a proven formula. So, where's the disconnect when it comes to investing in brands that speak deeply, authentically, and powerfully to communities of colour? Ami Colé did that—and then some. This wasn't an underdog story waiting to be fixed. This was a brand that had already done the damn thing. Over $3 million raised. On shelves in 600+ Sephora stores. Media acclaim. Award-winning products. Loved by the likes of Oprah and Martha Stewart. A founder (Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye) who formally worked at L'Oreal and in product development at Glossier. Viral moments. Cult-status glosses. A community that showed up, showed out, and bought in. The consumers did their part. So, why wasn't that enough? I'm devastated not just for the brand but for what this signals to Black founders everywhere: That even when you build something with intention, revenue, and community, survival is not guaranteed, at least not without deep-pocketed allies who understand both the moral imperative and the market opportunity in protecting this space. Let me say this louder: Black-owned beauty brands aren't just for Black folks. And even when melanin-rich skin or textured hair is centred, there is still undeniable magic. The potential to scale is not a liability—it's an untapped goldmine. I'm not just calling for charitable donations or feel-good optics. I'm calling for strategic investments. And maybe even for seats on your boards for people like me—those of us who've built careers testing your products (and all your competitors), telling your stories, and turning casual browsers into lifelong consumers. We may not have actual MBAs, but we have MBAs in beauty. We are your brand whisperers, your trend forecasters, your cultural compasses. The question is, will you listen? I fully understand there are countless layers and valid nuances that make my DEI dreams harder than ever to realise. But right now, I'm writing to you as a devoted beauty storyteller whose professional purpose — and passion — is to help move this industry in the right direction. So, I will continue to dream of a world where I have the capital to be the one writing ginormous checks. But since I don't (yet), I will continue to use my voice to push those who do. Because Black and brown beauty deserves more than a moment. It deserves momentum— real and everlasting. This isn't about calling you out — I'm lovingly calling you in. Let this not be another eulogy. Let this be a turning point. With urgency, hope, and light, Julee Wilson Julee Wilson is Beauty Editor at Large at Cosmopolitan. Previously, Julee was Beauty Director at Cosmo and Global Beauty Director at Essence and has held various editorial positions at Huffington Post and Real Simple. She counts herself lucky AF that she gets to play with beauty products for a living and tell dope stories. And if you're as obsessed with beauty as she is, make sure to follow her on Instagram for plenty of product recs, natural hair inspo, skincare testing, and Black girl magic shenanigans.
