Kim Kardashian West announces “elevated” rebrand for KKW Beauty

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jul 11, 2021

American reality star Kim Kardashian West has taken to social media to announce that KKW Beauty, the cosmetics brand she founded in 2017, will be going offline in August in order to undergo a comprehensive rebrand.

 
Posting the news on Twitter and Instagram, the 40-year-old celebrity and entrepreneur explained, “on August 1 at midnight we will be shutting down the kkwbeauty.com site so that we can come back to you under a completely new brand with new formulas that are more modern, innovative and packaged in an elevated and sustainable new look.”
 
“I'm excited to continue to develop and expand my product range and for you to finally be able to experience it the way that I have always envisioned,” Kardashian West continued. “In addition, my team is hard at work to improve the customer shopping experience where you will be able to purchase my beauty and cosmetic offerings in all categories from one single website.”

Kardashian West did not provide a prevision for a return date for the brand, but did say, “I promise we won't be gone for too long.”
 
The rebrand of the business, which was valued at $1 billion by New York-based beauty conglomerate Coty, Inc. when it acquired a 20% stake in the company in 2020, comes on the heels of a similar announcement concerning an imminent relaunch of fellow Kardashian-Jenner clan member Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics brand.
 
Coty, which is also the majority owner of the brand founded by Jenner in 2014, said on July 1 that the new vision for Kylie Cosmetics will focus on “improved clean and vegan formulas.” Furthermore, the rebrand will involve the launch of a new website on July 15, which Coty says will sell products from the Kylie Skin skincare line as well.
 
The abrupt announcement of the two rebrands in quick succession has led to speculation about the reasons behind the apparent rush to relaunch the businesses, with some theorizing that the decisions could be related to legal issues.
 
In June of last year, Forbes reported that Seed Beauty, the company which manufactures both KKW Beauty and Kylie Cosmetics products, had brought a lawsuit against Coty, alleging that “Kylie Cosmetics knowingly disclosed Seed’s trade secrets — confidential intellectual property” to the beauty conglomerate. According to Forbes, Seed Beauty had also brought a civil lawsuit against KKW Beauty to ensure that the brand did not share its trade secrets.
 
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Kardashian West has been pressured into a rebrand. The reality star’s Kimono shapewear label was renamed as “Skims” shortly after launch in 2019, following accusations of cultural appropriation.
 
In any case, this initial controversy does not appear to have had much of a negative impact on the business moving forward. Skims, which was valued at $1.6 billion by The New York Times in April of this year, recently announced that it will be supplying Team USA with undergarments, nightwear and loungewear at the Tokyo Olympics.