Kylie Cosmetics CEO makes quick exit

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jun 3, 2020

Coty has announced that Kylie Cosmetics chief executive officer Christoph Honnefelder has left the brand, after only being appointed to the leadership role in January of this year. 

”Coty yesterday announced a number of changes that will allow the company to focus on its core prestige and mass beauty businesses, including renewed investment in the e-commerce development of the prestige beauty franchise," the company said in a statement given to FashionNetwork.com by Andra Mielnicki, vice president, global influencer marketing, luxury at Coty.

The Kylie beauty business, including Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin, will now be overseen by Simona Cattaneo, president luxury brands, the statement said. 

"As part of this effort, we are building a strong foundation to support our strategic partnership with Kylie Jenner. As noted on today’s investor call, Simona Cattaneo, president luxury brands, is overseeing the expansion of the Kylie business for Coty." 

"She assumes these responsibilities from Christoph Honnefelder, who announced to the senior team internally a number of weeks ago that he would not be assuming the role of CEO of Kylie Beauty for personal reasons. Under Simona’s leadership we are excited by the opportunities for the Kylie Beauty business, as indicated by the very successful recent launch of Kylie Skin in Europe.”

Prior to joining Coty, Honnefelder worked for European beauty retailer Douglas as executive vice president for assortment and purchasing. Previously, he also served in a variety of senior management roles for Tchibo, a German consumer goods and coffee retailer. 

Coty first acquired a majority stake of Jenner's beauty business in November, 2019 for $600 million.