According to a recent blog post by Tamara Sender, Senior Fashion Analyst at market research firm Mintel, brands are looking to offer a holistic response to consumer demand for products that respect and reflect ethnic and cultural diversity.
Kahmune, a fashion brand, is an example of a company looking to marry fashion with beauty to this end, she says.
The brand presents every show on its website alongside matching foundations from several beauty brands. This, according to Sender, is an assertion from the company that it is “acknowledging the complexities women of different ethnicities face trying to find makeup that perfectly matches their skin tone.”
Beautifully diverse
Sender notes that, particularly driven by younger consumers, a demand for ethically conscious brands is now a top concern on a global scale.
“We are seeing a shift occurring with more brands aligning themselves with ethical or political causes,” she states. Half of millennials “are the most likely to choose a brand based on their ethics.”
Reflecting the diversity of their consumers is one key way brands are responding - and is particularly important for beauty brands.
“Mintel data shows that almost a third of women say that the colour not matching their skin tone is one of the biggest frustrations when using or wearing makeup,” Sender observes. This is despite the fact that in the UK, for example, there is a growing ethnic population, with young adults most likely to have mixed heritage.
Follow through on campaigns
The market analyst notes that in terms of campaigns, the industry has been making strides to meet the demand, but in practice, there is still some way to go when it comes to actual product offerings.
“Brands in the beauty sector have been focusing more on improving the diversity of ethnic representation in their ad campaigns; nevertheless our research demonstrates that this doesn’t always translate into the actual products being sold,” she states.