The beauty restructuring chronicles continue, with Glossier being the latest brand said to be undergoing a significant reduction in the size of its workforce.
WWD has learned that about 54 of the company’s 170-strong team were laid off early this week, as chief executive officer Colin Walsh, who took the helm in October, looks to restore growth to the direct-to-consumer pioneer.
Walsh was unavailable for comment, but a company spokesman said in a statement: “Glossier is being reshaped so the best ideas can move faster and the brand can lead again. The renewed focus is on reigniting the fearlessness, freedom and brand magic that transformed the beauty industry a decade ago. This means smaller, more agile teams that can move with the speed of culture and allow investment where it drives the business most… The company is not shrinking its ambition; it is strengthening its ability to realize it.”
Under previous leadership, Glossier expanded into Sephora, Space NK and Mecca, and went on a launch spree, introducing foundation, fragrance and myriad flavored lip balms, among other products. While some, like the core fragrance proposition, have been wins, other key launches like foundation failed to find a strong foothold in a saturated marketplace.
It is expected that Walsh will temper the speed of new launches significantly, and reorient the company’s focus to being a “skin-first” brand that reflects the lifestyle of its broad consumer base rather than a traditional beauty brand.
Walsh, one of the most respected operators in the business who was previously CEO of DevaCurl, Ouai and, most recently, Procter & Gamble’s specialty beauty business, has his work cut out for him. Glossier was a rocket ship from launch, founded by former editor Emily Weiss as a spin-off of her popular blog, Into the Gloss, in 2014. The company had raised $265 million by 2021, with a cap table stacked with blue chip investors like Sequoia Capital and Forerunner Ventures, and a peak valuation of $1.8 billion.
But growth stalled, due both to the pandemic and damaging revelations about Glossier’s corporate culture during the racial justice movement following the murder of George Floyd. During the pandemic, about 200 retail employees were laid off, and about two dozen corporate roles were eliminated in 2022.
More recently, much of the leadership team under former CEO Kyle Leahy has also exited the company, including chief creative officer Marie Suter; chief marketing officer Kleona Mack, who went to Shark Beauty, and chief commercial officer Chitra Balireddi, who is now the CEO of Nécessaire.
