The Business of Beauty Global Forum, organized by The Business of Fashion, opened its doors on June 24 in California with a two-day program examining beauty’s evolving relationship with culture, wellness, and retail. The invite-only summit brings together executives from L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, and Coty alongside independent founders reshaping the category.
The takeaway from Day One is that beauty is no longer fashion’s smaller sibling. The category has its own supply chains, regulatory challenges, and cultural logic. The Global Forum exists, in part, to make that distinction explicit — and to give beauty executives a space to think about their industry on its own terms.
This year’s agenda reflects an industry in transition. The beauty sector has outperformed fashion in recent quarters, attracting investment and talent from adjacent industries. Sessions address the rise of beauty-as-wellness, the blurring line between supplement and skincare, and the challenge of maintaining growth as the Chinese beauty market cools.
The California setting is deliberate. The state’s regulatory landscape — including the recent ban on certain cosmetic ingredients — has made it a testing ground for reformulation and transparency mandates that often preview national standards. Several sessions focus on navigating this compliance environment while maintaining margins.
