EXCLUSIVE: Sephora and Olive Young Reveal Brand Lineup for Partnership

EXCLUSIVE: Sephora and Olive Young Reveal Brand Lineup for Partnership

The partnership launches Aug. 20, featuring 19 Olive Young-curated Korean beauty brands across 500 Sephora locations in the U.S. and online, with plans for global expansion.

Many months in the making, Sephora and Olive Young are ready to show off their partnership.

Launching Aug. 20, the joint venture brings 19 Olive Young-curated Korean beauty brands to 500 Sephora stores in the U.S. and sephora.com, with expansion planned across key global markets. The participating brands include Cell Fusion C, Rejuran, Thom, Wellage and Whipped, among others. Prices range from $4 to $69 for skin care and up to $299 for devices.

For Sephora, the move enables it to become a serious player in K-beauty retail.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest launches that Sephora is planning for this year, and certainly over the course of time will be one of our biggest,” said Carolyn Bojanowski, executive vice president of merchandising at Sephora. “It’s also a super unique way to bring Korean beauty to the U.S. consumer. Lots of retailers are playing here. But what makes this stand out is the credibility. We know this is the best of the best.”

According to data from NIQ, Amazon is the top ranked retailer for K-beauty sales while the club channel — led by Costco — and TikTok Shop are seeing the fastest growth rates for the sector.

The U.S. debut will launch with a dedicated Olive Young K-beauty space at Sephora’s Times Square flagship in New York City, while curated assortments will also be available in more than 500 Sephora stores nationwide under the Olive Young K-beauty Edit banner and on sephora.com.

Around 50 doors will have a two linear structure, which means 12 shelves, while the rest will have one linear space, meaning six shelves.

Following the U.S. launch, the partnership will expand to additional global markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and more later this year, with further expansion planned for the Middle East, the U.K. and Australia in 2027.

While Sephora has imported its concept to outside retailers such as JCPenney from 2006 to about 2022 and then Kohl’s in 2021, this is the first time the retailer has brought another concept to its stores.

On why now, Doyoung Kim, executive vice president of U.S. merchandising at CJ Olive Young, said: “K-beauty has evolved from an emerging trend into a global beauty category, and consumers today are looking for authentic, high-performing Korean brands — not just individual hero products. Partnering with Sephora allows us to bring that curation to broader consumers through one of the world’s leading beauty retailers.”

In addition to its partnership with Sephora, Olive Young opened its first freestanding door in the U.S. earlier this year, an 8,647-square-foot flagship in Pasadena, Calif., that stocks about 400 brands and 5,000 products.

Asked why the second wave of K-beauty appears to have much staying power, Bojanowski said: “Korean culture has seeped into the American subconscious in a great way, whether it be ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ or all the music that comes out of [South] Korea. There’s just a lot more awareness of the culture, and a piece of that culture is an obsession with beauty. This is where the innovation is happening.”