The Glossy 50 honors the year’s biggest changemakers across fashion and beauty. More from the series →
It can be both a curse and a blessing to have the opportunity to lead a heritage brand. Michelle Freyre, who was given just that task with Clinique in 2020, knows exactly how challenging a job it can be.
“One of the hardest tasks is to take a brand that has a very rich DNA and rich heritage and to keep evolving it — making it modern and relevant to the younger generations that are coming up, while not losing the DNA,” said Freyre, who is now global brand president for Clinique and Origins at The Estée Lauder Companies.
First established in 1968, Clinique has found relevance with younger generations and then some. In 2021, seemingly out of nowhere, the brand’s Black Honey Almost Lipstick shot to viral TikTok popularity, a rarity for a product launched in 1972. But even rarer still is that the lip product has maintained the same viral popularity three years on, spurred by Clinique’s continued investment in the franchise. This year, Freyre and her team built on the Black Honey craze with new products, like mascara and trending lip oil, in the iconic color. According to Freyre, the original formula remains the No. 1 lip color in the United States.
“You have to continue to fuel where you see it [growing], to throw gasoline in the fire,” said Freyre, who noted that TikTok engagement for the brand is up 400% this year. “If you just rely on it to kind of go on its own, it’ll peak and it’ll die.”
While many consumers may recall discovering Clinique at the department store counter, Freyre understands that today’s shoppers are looking for new beauty touchpoints. In the past year, Clinique has become a top seller at Ulta Beauty, spurred by the launch of Black Honey kits exclusive to the retailer.
In what was a bold move that is increasingly becoming standard across the beauty industry, Clinique joined the Amazon Premium Beauty store in March of 2024. The partnership has proved successful, with other Estée Lauder beauty brands following suit; ELC reported double-digit sales growth in online sales in North America for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
“We have to be where [consumers] are in their journey,” said Freyre. “You really have to understand their journey, [including] how they discover and engage with brands, and how they eventually make their choices.”
