Dolce & Gabbana to take back control of beauty division

Italian luxury group Dolce & Gabbana is bringing its beauty business in-house following the end of its partnership with Japanese cosmetics group Shiseido.

“We will be the first Italian fashion brand to manage the beauty category in-house,” Gianluca Toniolo, the operating chief executive of Dolce & Gabbana Beauty, told the Financial Times.

Most luxury fashion houses have teamed up with third-party companies to operate their beauty divisions.

Dolce & Gabbana now joins a small list of brands, including Chanel and Dior, to take on the task themselves.

The new Dolce & Gabbana Beauty division will now assume 100 percent control of the development, manufacturing and distribution of its fragrance and make-up products.

Shiseido had been in control of the division since 2016, but in December 2021 announced it would be partially ending the licensing agreement as part of cost-cutting measures brought in place to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

The new Dolce & Gabbana Beauty company will be located in Milan and aims to eventually have a global workforce of 350-500 people, starting with a smaller goal of 150 by the end of the year.

Dolce & Gabbana is investing 300 million euros into the venture.

Chief executive Alfonso Dolce said the company aims to grow annual beauty retail sales by more than 1 billion euros to 2.5 billion euros in the next seven years, the Financial Times reports.