Wendy L. 00:09

Hello, everyone. I'm Wendy Liebmann, CEO and chief shopper of WSL Strategic Retail, and this is Future Shop. This is where I talk to innovators, disruptors and iconoclasts about the future of retail. Today, I'm going to talk to somebody who's just about to disrupt the beauty landscape one more time. So she fits in that iconoclast disruptor mode. She is Liza repay. Liza is the vice president of Cosmoprof, head of North America, and founder of Beauty New York, which we'll talk about in a minute. So let's begin. Hello, Liza, lovely to have you here.

Liza R. 00:46

Hi Wendy, lovely to see you again.

Wendy L. 00:49

Before we get started today. Don't forget, please subscribe to this podcast, just a great way for us to know you're there. Obviously good for our KPIs. Go to our website, go to Spotify, go to Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. We're there, and just click Subscribe. No cost to you. And we just know you're in the house, which is good for us. So thank you for that. And now on to the interview.

Wendy L. 01:12

For those of you who don't know Liza, you probably know Cosmoprof. If you're not in the beauty space, you may not, but Cosmoprof, and I'm going to give you the short version, Liza will fill you in as I've known it over the years. Is the platform, the place where beauty, the beauty community around the world, comes together. I first knew Cosmoprof in its initial permutation, I guess, out of Bologna, which is the most extraordinary beauty show, and over the years, that has evolved into beauty in Las Vegas, beauty in Miami, and soon, of course, this amazing event in New York that Liza will talk about. But anyway, so Liza just tell us in a bit more detail what Cosmoprof is all about, and what the North America proposition, current proposition for Cosmoprof is and how you bring everybody together.

Liza R. 02:03

Thank you, Wendy. So Cosmoprof, I think you summed it up very, quite nicely, Wendy, it is the platform that connects the entire industry ecosystem, the brands, the retailers, suppliers, distributors, innovators. For me, when I look at Cosmoprof, the trade show, especially North America. This platform, many of these new brands entering the US market, this is the place for them to be. This is the place for them to be. Found out. This is potentially you're going to be the next it brand. And I think the very important aspect of all this is that we know that in this market, innovation comes from a lot of the indie brands that's all of the newness is starting to permit, right? And when you look at the overall total US business, they represent close to a third of that in terms of dollar contribution. So it's huge,

Wendy L. 03:02

yeah. And the thing that's so dynamic about it, if you have not been to Cosmoprof, Las Vegas and Miami, is what two years old Miami, Miami is coming straight Yeah? Is that it is. It feels like it's the sort of incubation, the incubator, the pot of all the things that are new, just not in the US, but brands from around the world come to Las Vegas. But in addition to that sort of amazing floor show that sounds like a floor show of Las Vegas, right? High kicks of beauty, but as we, as you walk around, it's that, but it's also the other things that you do that, you know, we get involved in either a Retail Safari® that we did in Miami, where we bring people together to look at innovative retail. But the other piece is the education sessions, which, you know, we're often and again this year, part of and so it's the also the education and the quality, clearly, I'm preaching to the converted, but the quality of it's the big companies coming to see the emerging brands. It's the research and insights people like ourselves, who come to hear and learn and contribute. It feels like it's, as you said, this ecosystem of beauty, which in this world where there's so much going on and so many events to go to this, this always feels to me like it just has this intimacy and future view that's really exciting. But why am I telling you that? You know that already?

Liza R. 04:22

No, thank you. Wendy, I to me. I think I'm very blessed to be in this position, because I also come from the brand side, right? Yeah, not originally. I didn't grow up in this, you know, trade show business. But when you look at this, you know, when I came into this, I looked at it on the lens of, if I'm a brand, what matters to me most. And I think that has sort of changed in terms of content, the speakers, and a lot of it is based on, to be quite honest, relationships. And you know, you know this well, Wendy in our. Our industry, we remember many, many things for a long, long, long time. So a piece of advice, I think it's really important, especially in this industry, to be just to be your authentic self, and nurture relationships. And Cosmoprof does this with the retailers, the buyers, the distributors, the press and the media market research firms such as you Wendy, that's what Cosmoprof is. And you mentioned a little bit Miami earlier. So Miami is two years old, and I think you know, when we first launched Miami, there were questions of, is it going to cannibalize Las Vegas? But it really just now organically formed itself into this Miami services all of most of the Latin American markets, entering the US Space Europe. It's so easy for them to just come to Miami and, of course, the East Coast. And you see this when you compare it with Las Vegas, it's really just expanding the market

Wendy L. 06:04

reach. Yeah, yeah. And I think what was so interesting about that, and those of you listen to the podcast, will remember we had the amazing Claudia Lloreda on from Blush Bar in Latin America, from Colombia and Mexico, somewhere else, Chile, I think, and I first heard her speak at Cosmoprof, and was absolutely taken by her passion. And it was so exciting to hear somebody with this unique point of view as a retailer. And I said to her, would you come on the podcast? And she did, and she was just wonderful. And so that's the other part of it, right? It's this, this ability to bring us all together in a unique way. And before we talk about your newest venture, which I'm sure is taking a lot of your brain power these days, talk talk a little bit about beauty at large. I mean, you see it, you're experts in a you just sponsored FIT Capstone Masters Program in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing, on which you and I both on the board that at the industry is changing so much. It's so dynamic. I thought about it a lot recently, because of the death of Leonard Lauder, who was, for so many, an icon and generationally influenced so many. How do you think about the beauty business today and some of the trends that you're seeing

Liza R. 07:19

So Wendy, I think you're going to age us both a little, but that's okay. When I started in this beauty business, I started at Clinique many moons ago, almost two decades when you compare beauty then to beauty now, there were only a few big players in the industry, right, and the trends cascaded from the global headquarters and then to each of the regionals and markets. Right now, it's that reverse funnel, if you think about it. It's driven by, again, the emerging brands in the founders, the consumers themselves, on platforms like TikTok, which is really driving that massive change as well. When you look at beauty now, it's very hyper personalized, right? And it's still continuing to go to that direction. It's also culturally rooted. The consumers expect transparency, speed and that whole purpose piece. It's not just launching a product. You need these brands really need to stand for something bigger.

Wendy L. 08:23

Yeah, it is extraordinary. And I think that is the thinking about, you know, Leonard Lauder, again, you know this notion about the lipstick index, that whole notion of beauty as a sustaining business in good times and bad and whether it evolves into fragrance, as we saw during COVID, skin care, body care, sun care, health and wellness, which, of course, is the other piece, as well as color, which is clearly important to me, color cosmetics, I think about the expansion of beauty, but the extraordinary, I don't know resiliency, I suppose, in many ways, for new, innovative and new products and content. So I think that's the thing that's so powerful, not just about what you're doing, but also what we heard from the capstone class of 2025 and some of the conversations that they had there, the metal medicalization of, you know, beauty, the impact of AI, all of these things and the shifting and growth of beauty in different ways.

Liza R. 09:26

Yes, yes. I think it's when you look at what's happening. I can't release it yet, but I'm so excited to showcase the trends every year. Partner with beauty streams, they literally look at everything that we're offering and create these, you know, put them into like different trends. The trends are very It's fascinating. So you'll see them in Las Vegas, and after Vegas, the ones who, even if you don't make it, we usually release them out to the market.

Wendy L. 09:56

Then I think about the Circana and the Nielsen IQ. All the other workshop sessions. So there's just tremendous learning. I must say, for our team, we always come away with our heads bubbling with new thoughts. You know, when I think also about all the places I can buy beauty today, as a consumer, as a shopper I know on our panel, so I'm we're focusing on How America Shops® in Chaos, and some new research we're doing out about how American shops work, and again, looking at through that lens. And then we have on the I have thank you on my panel, CVS, Ulta and I know and beauty space, these three different dimensions of where people are going for beauty and how they're going to be talking about the how shoppers think about value and values to your point, and I think that's also there's a lot of richness in that conversation

Liza R. 10:48

Wendy. We need to also, for Cosmoprof, be relevant. Everything that we do. Our lens is, are we servicing the industry? We need to make sure that sometimes we're even thinking ahead and the beauty of Cosmo prof, to your point, Wendy, you could go there and do a market research. You don't have to fly around the globe, because we have all of these brands coming in into Cosmoprof for three days. I think one of the things that we do is to make sure that we're designing Cosmoprof to reflect the fragmented landscape. That's what's happening now. We are tirelessly researching, what are the new retailers popping up? Either be a pop-up, an online shop, or if it's a retail that's specific for a type of offering. For instance, we are bringing many Korean retailers, many, many retailers because of, again, the trends and the consumer demands that they need to service. A lot of it is considering the ecosystem and connecting it, making sure that it isn't about the sales, it's really about the strategic growth of the industry.

Wendy L. 12:08

Yeah, and I know our friend Ajay from TikTok shop will be there, that other place that people access beauty, not just to listen and learn, but also now to shop. And the implications for that are pretty amazing. I think you said that Walmart Marketplace is this, I mean luxury, mass, digital, all of these places in this fragmented beauty world, and Beauty Lee, you know, continues to lead the way. And so many things here, I think regard, we work, as you know, across lots of categories beauty we're very passionate about, but we work across health and food and beverage and pets and whatever, luxury and mass digital but beauty seems generationally to push forward in many of these areas, often first. So let's jump to October. You've got a whole other thing going on here. Beauty New York. Tell us a bit about Beauty New York.

Liza R. 13:03

Okay, here's the big ah moment in the US. We don't have anything or a platform, like a Fashion Week, so beauty, we all have very, you know, segmented. Everyone's doing their own thing. There are some events, and I've realized through many years that we love getting together. That is true, and any events that I go to after, especially after COVID, that sort of touched and that, you know, you can't really just get that with all of this digital video communication, it's very different. So Beauty New York, if I have to simply explain it, it's fashion week for beauty. Beauty New York is it has to be in New York, because this city, when I look at even in last year, in 2024 entire beauty grew by 3% New York City alone grew at 5% New York City is the epitome of what beauty is. It's the birthplace of modern beauty, and it's home to many of these corporate brands. And as we start us, I started thinking of, what can we do to continue to support this industry. Wendy, I always think back of Fashion Week versus beauty. You know, New York beauty is so inclusive and it is also accessible. So when I started thinking about Beauty New York, it's almost like flipped. The stage belongs to the consumer, and in order for this, for all of us to rise, we need to make sure that we're putting the consumers first. So this fall, we are launching this event specifically for that. It is not about one brand, it is not about one retailer, it is not about a prestige brand, and I can't be with. A mass brand, but it's truly serving up what the consumers are looking for. I cannot we have an embargo, so I can't officially say where the location is, but I'm just going to hint that it's a very iconic location downtown, and that is what Beauty New York is. And one of the things I don't want to forget is that we have two sort of tracks. Wendy for we have two tracks for the master classes. I'm sure you've attended other beauty events before that offered master class. So for us and for me, it was important that we are following what the North Star is of Beauty New York. It is to continue to lift the industry. So there's two tracks to the masterclass. The first one is artistry. We know that the consumers love it. It. Think about a makeup artist teaching. But the other piece of this is pulling the curtain back, letting these consumers see what is behind beauty, all of these younger generations who are so in love with this industry, we're going to be talking about careers in beauty. How do we tell these stories? For instance, we are now officially have partnered with seed, and they're going to bring about careers in beauty conversations. And then same track to that we might have a an entrepreneur type of conversation. So

Wendy L. 16:28

this is you said the fall. Can you talk dates or not yet?

Liza R. 16:32

I can talk dates. So, okay, tell us the date. Yes. So October 16. I hope you're in town, Wendy. I think you are, because we've discussed this before. Yes, October 16 is the kickoff launch party for the event. It is for the industry only, and during that time, we will also be awarding a few honorees for impact, either a brand or a corporation or a person who has made an impact in the community or in the industry. So that's the first night, October 16. October 17 and 18, which is a Friday, and Saturday is when we open it up to the public. In terms it's ticketed event. It's going to be purely experiential, and we are already talking to many brands to make sure that this comes to life in a way that will be number one. It kicks off the holiday selling. It's important for the brands to touch the consumers directly. We're also working with retailers Wendy, so that for the entire week. Think of it as Fashion Week. There will be, will be driving consumers to whichever of the retailers they will have something special that they will be doing for the beauty consumers.

Wendy L. 17:51

So in the event itself, will people be able to sample, try learn, beyond the master classes, that whole array of all the brands and categories and everything that are there is that the sort of show and tell play

Liza R. 18:09

Yes. So it's purely experiential. You can you can discover some new brands, or discover brands that you've never even heard of before, and, you know, reconnect with the brands that you forgot you love so much in the past. It's purely again experiential. And I think that's the beauty of this. When I look think back about my Clinique days, and, you know, the Lauder days I remember, it is always said, you just touch the consumer first, and you're halfway there,

Wendy L. 18:39

yeah. And, you know, it reminds me, in Australia, Fashion Week, there has the business to business piece to it, but it also has the consumer piece to it. It's in Melbourne, throughout the city, the retailers, the consumers experience and have the opportunity to be part of this amazing offer. And I always, and there's the business session, you know, I spoke at it, where, you know, you have leaders in the community talk to the industry and to students like the FIT equivalent. And so those dimensions have always been really interesting to me, both in fashion and beauty. And it always struck me that that was that never existed here in the beauty space, that integration of the consumer and the industry, particularly now as consumers are really so engaged as driving their own perspective. And it's not just, as you said, few big companies, few big media propositions pushing it down. Now we have the whole community of beauty aficionados and others, you know, driving so much change. So this is this is extraordinary.

Liza R. 19:44

Have to share this. And I think this is really exciting for us beauty insiders, because we have opened our portal for people can buy the tickets to the event already, already. We. Haven't quite pushed it out yet, and we are all incredibly at all. I am obsessively refreshing my screen because of the demand for ticket. It's pretty incredible. And we haven't even done we are investing a huge amount of, you know, dollars and our, you know, blood, sweat and tears. You know, taxi, taxi, cab, um, yeah, New York City painting the pink. The city pink. We haven't even done that. That's all planned in September, right? But the ticket sales, the demand for the consumers, is pretty fascinating,

Wendy L. 20:37

yeah, the other thing that strikes me, I was thinking because, you know, you talking about iconic spaces where you're going to do this. The other thing that struck me of late in the in the art community, art world, is all of these experiences, immersive experiences, that you can as a consumer, as a somebody who loves us, walk into these days, whether it's, you know, Van Gogh, bringing things to life, whatever it is. And it struck me, as you, as you were describing, that I was thinking, wow, this is that sort of, I'm going to sort of walk into the world of beauty on all aspects, from experiencing the product to understanding the industry, the community, how I might grow and work in it and or just buy and wear it kind of thing. So it's really, it's really a powerful, a powerful vision, which is amazing. And I also think, you know, when I think about the shifts in beauty today, or beauty retailing, as much as anything where we've got, you know, the tried and true retailers who are struggling, to some degree, whether it's, you know, our old world of kind of department stores and drugstores and trying to find new ways to engage the consumer that that, too, feels like it's so timely in a world that's become so digital. And this is that experiential piece. So it's, it's, it's really exciting walking away in November as you as you scrape yourself off the ground and get ready to, I don't know, make Thanksgiving dinner or something. That was a conversation I was having with somebody today. I was like, oh my god, don't talk to me about November. I could stab myself. But when you think, are there one or two things that you want to achieve out of this,

Liza R. 22:13

honestly, when I think about this first and foremost, did we make the consumers get excited again. Are we relevant? Is beauty? Relevant is beauty? How are we helping? Again? The positioning for Beauty New York is to lift the entire industry forward, to continue to build and use this platform to help the industry. I think to me, I'm excited, you know, and not just the number is numbers, number of people, number of you know, you know, the brands who were there. But I'm also looking at it from How did it lift the industry? I'm a numbers person, so I would like to, I'm work, and we're talking to Macy's, for instance, we're talking to Nordstrom, but I used to run, help run the Clinique business at Macy, so I know exactly how weekly sales are planned. I'd love to see incrementals on each, what did this event do to to each of these retailers and to beauty in general, especially in New York City? Yeah.

Wendy L. 23:15

And I do think timing is great for that, because as we come to the holiday also, even if beauty is resilient, as people get nervous about their spending, the need for us to create that level of urgency and excitement and relevance to your point, and then to have to lead into a really strong holiday season. So those sort of things to me, seem really, really important now for the year end as well. As you know, what does 2026 look like? So really, really exciting. So I'm delighted. I'm excited for October, excited for July. Thank you for inviting my team back again to July. So my last question to most of my guests is what's your favorite place or anything?

Liza R. 24:04

Sure and I think it as you asked me this question, I have to think, do I have a favorite or it depends on what what my mood is. A lot of it is that, and I think a lot of the consumer sentiment follows that same sort of logic. But if I have a favorite place to shop. It's the small grocery store near my apartment. It's called a matter of health. I think it's convenient. They have healthy options that I'm looking for, and it's it feels like the assortment is made and specially curated for me. I know it's not, but that's how I that's how they make me feel, why I feel like I love going there,

Wendy L. 24:43

so that's really it's always a pleasure to see you in the halls at our various board meetings, etc, etc, and we're all really excited about Las Vegas, and we've got more of our team coming this year, so that's going to be even more exciting. So How America Shops® in Chaos? Will be buying lots of beauty.

Liza R. 25:01

So excited. And thank you, Wendy. I think you know I'm, of course, I'm gonna say this to all of the listeners. I am so excited to see this presentation. Wendy, do you remember that presentation you did? In, I don't know, 2008?

Wendy L. 25:15

Yes, aging us. Aging us. Yeah, I do remember when I was asked to kick off something. It was a Women's Wear Daily event not quite two weeks after the world ended. We need you for eight minutes to tell us How America Shops® in Crisis. And I was like, oh, this is depressing, so this will be slightly more uplifting. Always a pleasure. Great to see you. Very excited about October, and we will see you in the future.

So, you know, I think it's really clear from what Liza said, that this is a very exciting time. Cosmoprof has been around for a very long time, from the Bologna days now through Las Vegas and Miami, and this vision to bring the consumer with the industry, together in New York, together in New York, to really showcase and embrace the value of beauty and inspire people to buy again in these challenging times, and as a lead up to the holiday season, it's a very powerful story. I think we all understand that if we don't get the consumer to shop and buy our goods and services, then the world is very challenged, and in these times of chaos, we need to do more and more of that. So to Cosmoprof and Liza and teams credit, this Beauty New York is going to be a very powerful couple of days where the industry can come together with the consumer, the shopper, lots of learning, lots of influence, lots of power in that discussion. And for those of you who are going to Las Vegas. See you in Las Vegas. For those of you who are not, hopefully, we'll see you in New York and see the future of beauty. See you soon. Cheers for now you