A year and a half into his leadership of Violet Grey, Sherif Guirgis is more focused on exclusives than ever.
He and his team, which now includes Tracy Kline, group brand president of VGD Holdco, are searching high and low for niche brands globally to make the retailer stand out from the crowd. As for what it can offer brands, Guirgis is hoping that they’ll be attracted by the retailer’s tight edit supported by education and content, as well as its committee of makeup artists, hairstylists, aestheticians, dermatologists and celebrity influencers who test products for its Violet Code.
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“There may be larger scale partners they could launch with, but no one that can really give that immediate buy-in and legitimacy and be part of this really tight edit and program that really makes them feel special and validated for all the work they’ve put in to create these incredible products,” said Guirgis, who is helming the company as chairman, chief executive officer and co-owner.
As previously reported by WWD, in 2024 Cassandra Grey acquired Violet Grey back from Coupang-owned Farfetch, with help from Guirgis, a private equity veteran. Last year, the business brought Detox Market, an early player in clean beauty.
Recent brand partner exclusives at Violet Grey include NakedBeauty MD by Dr. Catherine Chang, Poiret Beauté, Habelo and most recently Filament Haircare.
“The response to Filament was absolutely incredible. We sold out within about a week and a half, and we had a wait list hundreds long,” said Kline.
In addition to its exclusives, Madame Grey, its own fragrance, has become its top performer in that category, according to Guirgis.
“We sell out on all those different launches and reorder multiple times. But on top of it, we hear from the founders the impact that it has on their DTC business, and the approaches they then get from all the other retailers. Those launches really move the needle for the brands and for us as well,” added Guirgis.
While Violet Grey does not publicly release financials, these exclusives are understood to have become multimillion-dollar brands within their first year of being with Violet Grey.
In November 2024, it was announced that Violet Grey would open a shop-in-shop at Hirshleifers, the family-owned department store in Manhasset, N.Y. Last year, it opened a store on Madison Avenue in New York City.
“There’s more places we’d like to be, and where we plan to be, and capitalize on this opportunity to meet our customer where they are,” said Guirgis.
The latest add to its offering is Nordic beauty brand Bob Beauté exclusively to the U.S., which Kline discovered on Instagram.
Founded in Norway by Gine Margrethe, Bob Beauté is a minimalist beauty brand grounded in high quality, multifunctional formulations. Products will include a lip liner, brow gel, face mist and a corrector.
“I came across the brand on my Instagram feed last summer, right after it launched. I had already been following Gine, and she’s super interactive with her audience,” said Kline. “What really piqued my interest was around the multi use of the product and how simple it is to bring on the go and no-nonsense. Gine likes to say you can do your full face in two minutes with just a few of the products.”
Not only is Violet Grey Bob Beauté’s first retail partner in the U.S., it’s the first ever.
As for future launches, Kline indicated they are plentiful: “Our brand launch calendar is just about full for the year. We have brands planned out through October. So it’s a good problem to have yet not to say that, you know, that we won’t be adding more. It’s a lot of exclusives, and a lot of brands that are coming to the U.S. for the first time.”