Glossy Pop Newsletter: Exclusive — Origins makes a bid for Gen Z with new Youthtopia franchise

August 23, 2024 Mary

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Origins, the OG “clean” beauty brand, was created by the Estée Lauder Companies 34 years ago. Though that means that, by definition, it’s firmly a millennial, it seems to be hedging its bets for the future on Gen Z.

This strategy comes on the heels of a tumultuous week at Estée Lauder. On Monday, the company announced that its CEO, Fabrizio Freda, would retire at the end of 2025. At the same time, the company released an earnings report showing a mixed performance. In the fourth qarter, overall revenue grew by 7.3% compared to the same period last year, reaching $3.87 billion. However, for the full fiscal year 2024, the company’s net sales declined by 2%, driven primarily by challenges in certain regions, particularly in mainland China.

As for Origins, the brand has introduced “Youthtopia,” a 2-piece collection that recently soft-launched on dot com at Ulta Beauty and will officially debut the week of August 26. The collection encompasses the $44 Liquid Exfoliating Apple Face Peel and the $54 Plumping Apple Face Moisturizer with Peptides.

“Youthtopia is a huge moment for Origins,” said Amber Garrison, the brand’s global brand president. Of the name, she said, “Doesn’t Youthtopia sound like a place you would want to go? We love this name because it captures this idea of maintaining a really youthful quality in our skin, but also in our lives and in ourselves.”

True to Gen Z’s much-reported-on ideals, the product franchise has a sustainability angle in the form of its hero ingredient: upcycled and fermented apple peels. To create the products, Origins’ scientists used apple peels that would otherwise be discarded in the making of apple sauce, and turned them into a powder. They then fermented it and found that, in doing so, it became two times as antioxidant-rich as its non-fermented state. The result, Garrison said, is that the products have “immediate benefits to skin texture, firmness and barrier strength, but they also help preserve the youthful qualities of our skin over time.”

When asked if Gen Z is, in fact, concerned about skin firmness — they are currently 12-27 years old — Garrison said, “Everyone’s thinking about the smoothness, the plumpness and the bounciness of their skin, and the qualities of their skin that look the best.”

She added, “These are super savvy customers. They are thinking about their lives, their choices and wellness in the broadest possible terms — not only to feel great today, but also because they know that [these things] have a long-term impact.” Origins is in constant communication with its customers vis-à-vis internal surveys.

As for the tight product assortment, she said, “We know that consumers like straightforward, simple routines that deliver results, and we found that these two products together could create the powerful results that we were looking for. We didn’t need to launch with a bunch of other ancillary stuff.” In the future, she said, the brand will be careful to restrict new products to those sure to resonate with consumers, rather than to “add extra stuff just because.”

Following the soft launch, Youthtopia will host events in the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, Germany and China. In addition, it will have wildpostings in New York City from September 10 through October 25. On September 16, the brand will host an influencer trip in Upstate New York, and on October 5- 6, it will host a consumer-facing pop-up in SoHo, Manhattan. Paid partners, whose dedicated content will roll out in September, include Rachel DiBease (@rachelshea_; 396,000 TikTok followers), Koosha Nouri (@kooshaaa; 160,000 TikTok followers and Crystal Nicole (@beingcrystalnicole; 468,000 TikTok followers). All of the partners selected are new to Origins.

Origins has 30,000 followers on TikTok, where it is working to expand its presence, and 572,000 on Instagram. “We aligned on most of our creator content going live around the time that our live events will happen, for maximum impact across social,” said Alexis Ansley-Benjamin, executive director of global communications at Origins.

According to Tribe Dynamics, Origins garnered $15.5 million in earned media value in fiscal year 2024, up 74% year-over-year, which boosted the brand’s ranking within the skin-care category by 10 spots. TikTok drove $5.2 million of the EMV, an increase of 160% over fiscal 2023. For the launch of Youthtopia, it is projecting $5 million in North American EMV alone, based on its seeding efforts, influencer partnerships, the upstate NY influencer trip and a consumer-facing pop-up event that will take place at a prime SoHo location this Fall.

As part of Youthtopia’s soft launch, the brand has begun to roll out some content including a teaser, campaign content that utilizes the hashtags #applepower and #applecheeks, and video interviews with its director of R&D, Dr. Rocky Graziose. In the interviews, Dr. Graziose speaks to the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” as well as the benefits of fermentation.

Through the new franchise, new customer acquisition is a priority. “We haven’t been addressing that pre-aging mindset, so we’re excited to welcome new consumers to the brand too,” Garrison said.

Origins can only hope its take on the iconic apple becomes as much of a hit as Charli XCX’s — after all, the viral dance created for her song by the same name will be one of our most defining cultural memories of summer 2024.

For Love & Lemons goes casual

Glossy Pop Newsletter: Exclusive — Origins makes a bid for Gen Z with new Youthtopia franchise

With its first “Essentials” collection, For Love & Lemons, the Los Angeles-based fashion brand, aims to expand its audience. After all, not every woman has frequent occasion for a lacy gown. The new collection, which encompasses 40 SKUs, about 60% smaller than a typical For Love & Lemons collection, includes matching boxer and oxford button-up sets, lace-trimmed cardigan sets, and floral-accented fleeces. It also sits at a lower price point than the brand’s dressier attire — prices range from $59-$279.

“We had a great handle on what was happening in our current space with the ultra-feminine, very girly occasion wear, but we weren’t really giving her her everyday wear,” said Anaelisa Benjamin, gm at For Love & Lemons.

The brand wanted to stay true to the aesthetic for which it has become known — and developed a fan base — over the course of its 13 years. “[We asked ourselves], ‘What do we want to wear in our everyday life? What do the women who come to our office who are trying to display power and femininity and individuality want to wear? [And] what does that look like when you translate that to product — while maintaining [this] ultra-femininity in everything we do?’ That was really the filter,” Benjamin said.

The campaign, pictured above, was inspired by a “Working Girl,” “9 to 5,” ’90s vibe.

Finally, the brand is now 13-years-old – “we aren’t going out the same way that we did 10 years ago, right?” she said, speaking of both the brand’s own founders and its long-time, loyal fans. It wanted to serve those women too.

To celebrate the collection, it has tapped founders, including Kendall Knox of home decor company, Olive Ateliers, who will be featured going about her day in her favorite pieces from the Essentials collection.

Collabs of the week

Free People x On

If you’ve been looking for a cool way to add a bit more character to your running ‘fit, look no further than FP Movement’s new collab with On, which includes two pairs of sneakers: the $180 Cloudmonster sneakers and the $150 Cloudnova Form 2 sneakers. The sneakers blend On’s technology with true-to-Free People design touches, like floral lining and color blocking. “With our shared mission to deliver innovative products to consumers, FP Movement and On partnered to offer two unique footwear styles. The brands have been strong partners throughout the years, and we are excited to marry On’s expertise in footwear and FP Movement’s unique perspective on activewear through this limited-edition run of On’s most beloved styles,” Courtney Weis, managing director of brand marketing for FP Movement, told Glossy.

Bon Bon Whims x Danielle & Alix

Bonbonwhims, the celeb-beloved jewelry brand, has joined forces with stylist duo Dan & Alix (Danielle O’Connell and Alix Gropper) known for working with influencers and ‘it’ girls including Paige Desorbo, Camille Kostek, Alix Earle and Kensington Tillo, for a product collab inspired by the ultimate stylist staple: the safety pin — but it’s been rendered in rhinestones. “We wanted to make sure the collection was true to [Dan & Alix’s] identity and aesthetics, so we had multiple design calls and rounds of edits to make sure they loved every aspect of it,” said Clare Ngai, Bonbonwhims founder. “From the first call, we knew we had to incorporate a stylist element and the girls came up with the safety pin concept, which is so clever.”

“I love how you can add or subtract pieces to make it your own. I stack 6-7 charms and always get so many compliments,” Danielle said of the charm necklace, which she called out as her favorite piece in the collection.

“I love wearing the waist chain with a white tank and denim — it’s such a cool way to elevate an outfit, and I’ve never seen one that also integrates the charm element,” said Alix, regarding Bonbonwhims’ first-ever waist chain, found in the line.