This story was originally part of the 2024 Glossy 50 feature. Click here to see all of this year’s honorees.
When asked to lead Kering’s newly formed beauty division from scratch, beauty veteran Raffaella Cornaggia saw it as a new challenge — and an exciting one at that. “What really made me thrilled was the idea of starting a white page,” said Cornaggia, who joined Kering as CEO of Kering Beauté in 2023. Prior, she had stints at L’Oréal, Estée Lauder and Chanel.
Filling that blank space, Cornaggia has identified fragrance as the conglomerate’s key foundational pillar. Building credibility in the sector has included identifying and seizing up venerated fragrance houses. In 2023, Kering acquired the British luxury fragrance house Creed, known for hits like the masculine classic Aventus. And, in June 2024, Kering announced a minority investment in Matiere Premiere, the niche perfume house founded by Aurélien Guichard — just 5 years old, it had already captured the attention of niche fragrance fans for its modernized take on classic French perfumery.
“We were starting from scratch, and we needed scale. It could take years to build scale in beauty if you start from zero,” Cornaggia said of the Creed acquisition. “The most important part is that this brand has a huge potential ahead. Because, yes, it’s very strong in male, high-end fragrances, but we have just started to activate women.”
Cornaggia has also been expanding Kering’s valuable fashion properties to the fragrance category. Bottega Veneta, already one of fashion’s most desirable labels under the creative direction of Mathieu Blazy, made a return to fine fragrance in 2024 with the launch of five scents in architectural bottles. “Fragrance is the most natural beauty category, and it’s the most natural beauty extension for a luxury brand,” Cornaggia said.
Even with these major launches on the market, Cornaggia said Kering Beauté is only in its beginning phase. “2024 was the year when the team came together in full. Finally, my executive team was all there, and we saw the difference [it made],” said Cornaggia. “It’s foundational for the success of the division for the years to come.”
