LONDON — Rhode’s Hailey Bieber and Lauren Ratner are taking their billion-dollar beauty brand into new territory outside North America. The next stop is the U.K. with a Sephora opening on Nov. 10.

The brand, which was acquired in May by E.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion, made its North America debut at Sephora over the summer. Sales at the beauty retailer broke records, and Rhode and Sephora are already anticipating similar success in the U.K.

Rhode said it has driven the highest number of customer sign-ups ever for a brand launch at Sephora U.K.

“It’s exciting to see Rhode reach more people, and get it into more hands. Watching people have this IRL experience with the brand [at Sephora] has been super-fulfilling for me,” Bieber said in an exclusive interview with WWD.

“We have obviously been planning with Sephora for a really long time. You can anticipate and hope for how you want it to go, but you don’t really know until the launch, and you’re in there,” said Bieber, adding the U.S. launch has “definitely exceeded everybody’s hopes and expectations.”

Priya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer of Sephora, said the retailer had its “eyes on Rhode since it first entered the industry.”

“This will be one of our largest U.K. brand launches to date, and we believe Rhode will not only perform incredibly well commercially, but will also strengthen our position as the ultimate destination for what’s next in beauty” she added.

Going Offline

The partnership with Sephora marks Rhode’s first foray into retail, and gives the brand an opportunity to extend the conversation it’s been having with customers online.

Ratner, Rhode’s cofounder, president and chief brand officer, said the first three years of the business have been hyper-focused on building a robust direct-to-consumer channel and relationship with customers.

Early signs of success in physical retail quickly became apparent through Rhode’s pop-ups in Toronto, London, Ibiza and Majorca, Spain, and New York.

“There’s a global appetite for the brand and we needed a retail partner that had that global presence like Sephora. We also knew our customer was there. In terms of the U.K., it’s always been a key market for us and it was the first international country where we launched online,” Ratner said, adding that on a personal note, she’s excited to bring the brand to a permanent space to London, where she grew up.

In the summer of 2024, Rhode’s London photo booth attracted hourlong queues. A further four-day pop-up on Motcomb Street last October was just as successful.

This summer, Rhode organized one of its most successful campaigns to date, a Lemontini-themed pop-up in Spain.

“We have seen great success in driving new customers through the immersive world-building we do. The Lemontini, in tandem with new European market launches, drove significant new customer acquisition and was one of our highest revenue days in company history,” Ratner said.

Further international expansion with Sephora is on the cards, but Bieber said the brand is “taking it one place, and territory,” at a time right now.

“What we do really well at Rhode is think about things holistically and what feels right for us as a brand. We don’t play by anybody else’s rules, and we don’t follow any strategy other than the one that we invent for ourselves as a brand,” Bieber said.

Sarah Boyd, managing director of Sephora U.K., said Rhode’s direct-to-consumer success “has already shown its incredible global demand and bringing it to physical retail and more seamless online delivery gives customers the chance to truly experience the brand. Social media has made beauty more borderless than ever; our shoppers don’t want to wait months for what’s trending in the U.S., they want it now, and vice versa.”

A Sephora Success

When Rhode launched on Sephora’s site earlier this year, the brand attracted more than 2 million searches and was slated to be the retailer’s largest North American launch in history.

According to YipitData, Rhode exceeded $10 million in retail sales during its first two days at Sephora. Data provided by Rhode shows it lapped the previous record-holder for biggest launch at Sephora by 2.5 times. Roughly three Rhode items were selling per second.

The partnership with Sephora marked Rhode’s first foray into retail, with net sales topping $212 million in the 12 months ending March 31. It was a big number for what had been a pure direct-to-consumer brand.

On launch day, Rhode comprised more than 35 percent of Sephora North America’s online sales. That number leveled off to about 5 percent one week later on Sept. 10, according to web receipt data scraped by YipitData.

The feedback has been nothing short of sweet, with Bieber’s friends, family members and fellow beauty brands rallying behind her.

“I have friends and people who I’m around that are also in Sephora, such as Jen Atkin [founder of Ouai] and Mary Phillips [founder of M.Ph], and I feel really supported by them. It’s exciting to go on this journey with other people alongside you who have done it before to the highest level,” she said.

She added: “I have so much respect for other founders because I’ve been on this journey and I know how hard it can be.”

Bieber said she grew up with Sephora. As a young ballet dancer, she said it was single destination for cosmetics and beauty. “My earliest memories are going to Sephora at my local mall and stocking up on glittery eye shadow for dance recitals and stage makeup,” Bieber said.

One True Vision

Bieber is not compromising on her vision and the “the world of Rhode” that she’s created with Ratner.

It took meticulous planning to design the Rhode gondola at Sephora, which takes in the brand’s signature gray color palette. 

“We’ve been really intentional about bringing the visual look and feel of the world of Rhode to life in a consistent way that feels true to the brand. We’ve built up these immersive worlds in our pop-ups that we want to continue to bring into retail,” Ratner said.

“As we enter into retail, customers will hopefully recognize the signature design language they’ve seen in our activations, [campaigns] and pop-ups,” she added.

The gondola’s surface will be covered in Rhode’s shiny texture and filled with mirrors and a product assortment that includes the Peptide Lip line, skin care range and pigmented blush.

“We think of each person in our community as a creator and we want to give them the opportunity to create within these spaces,” Ratner said.

“Our approach to content, community and commerce has been an important part of our success throughout, and as we launch a new product. We try to build a world that our community feels really emotionally connected to and excited by through sticky messaging, visuals and immersive activations. We hope to give our consumers the tools to ‘storytell’ about the brand and to foster a real connection,” she added.

To celebrate the partnership with Sephora, the brand has brought back its limited-edition Peptide Lip permanently in tints of Strawberry Glaze, Salty Tan and Jelly Bean. Rhode will also be dropping its holiday set on the same day as its Sephora U.K. launch.

Bieber calls the curated edits an essential part of Rhode’s growth. “I’m constantly basing our product range on things that have become and stayed necessary. We could eventually expand one day — we recently launched eye patches,” she said.

The Peptide Eye Prep is priced at 25 pounds. 

Rhode has stuck to its accessible pricing from the get-go. The brand’s price range starts from 20 pounds for a Peptide Lip tint and goes up to 38 pounds for its viral iPhone lip cases. 

“My goal from the beginning was always the accessibility of it. I’m not somebody who needs to be putting $300 skin care on the market. I think that a lot of really expensive skin care is also just really good marketing. What we aim to do is give people really efficacious ingredients and great formulas while still being accessible,” Bieber said.

The Rhode Ahead

As Rhode operates under E.l.f. Beauty, Bieber hasn’t changed how she works.

Her role is chief creative officer and head of innovation, overseeing creative, product innovation and marketing. She also acts as a strategic adviser to the combined companies.

“There’s so many things that we’re planning. I’m constantly thinking of the next shoot and concept I want to do. I’m so big on inspiration and I always have so many mood boards happening,” Bieber said, referring to her secret Pinterest account.

She has been using the social media app religiously for years and pins ideas daily. She has an interior decor and food board. (The last recipe she pinned was for air fryer cinnamon apple rings.)

“Does that not sound delicious?” Bieber said.

Rhode’s achievements to date are a testament to the founder’s dreams, and she remains firm in her ambitions.

“Nothing is impossible and I don’t think anybody could tell you that there’s an idea too bizarre, too big or too out of reach. I never, ever, thought that we would be at the place that we’re at today with Rhode and the way that people have loved it and gravitated toward it,” Bieber said.

“There’s so many people who can see doubt in your mind. I think it’s very easy for us as humans to be insecure and doubt our own ideas and ourselves. I just don’t think anything is impossible at all. Maybe that’s some delusion, but there is a level of healthy delusion [too],” she added.