Brand News
12 January
Moda Operandi launches beauty
The ecommerce platform is adding a complementary category to its flagship fashion, with content and curation to power it.

Moda moves into beauty. (Courtesy photo)
The ecommerce platform is adding a complementary category to its flagship fashion, with content and curation to power it.
Moda moves into beauty. (Courtesy photo)
Moda Operandi made its name as a destination for fashion. Now, it’s adding a new category.
The news: Moda Operandi launched sales of beauty products on the platform this week. It makes good on plans shared in May, as Moda Operandi became one of a number of platforms to move into beauty, including fellow luxury platform Farfetch. At the time, it hired Jessica Matlin, the former beauty director at Harper’s Bazaar and cohost of the Fat Mascara podcast, to lead the new division.
What will be available? Moda is featuring 55 skincare, fragrance, makeup, haircare, and body care brands at launch. It aims to include a range of emerging and established brands.
Experience magnified: Along with the brands themselves, the platform plans to leverage strengths including curation, as well as relationships in the fashion industry to create content such as shoppable tutorials and skincare routines. It will also bring an editorial outlook with the aim of becoming a beauty destination.
Key quote from Matlin highlights the curation aspect: “There are so many beautiful products in the world—and as a former magazine editor, I have seen, tried, and written about thousands of them. But now, as Moda’s Beauty Director, I have the privilege of handpicking only the very best. If you’re familiar with Moda, you’ll know we’re all about curation. Whether fashion, fine jewelry, home, or beauty—at Moda, we don’t carry everything. We carry the best of everything. I don’t want to spend hours in an endless scroll. The glut of products and lines is overwhelming for everyone, even a beauty director. Too much of a good thing is, in fact, too much.”
What does this mean for Moda Operandi? A new category is a milestone moment. Moda launched with trunkshows in 2011, and has since expanded from fashion to include accessories, home and jewelry. Still, it’s also an extension that feels right. Fashion and beauty tend to go hand in hand. CEO Jim Gold called it a “natural next step.” It will also help the business grow more deeply with existing customers and reach new shoppers, executives believe.
“The launch of this category will not only increase order frequency and the cart size of existing clients, but also help us reach a new, aspirational customer demographic that shares our appreciation for impeccable curation and storytelling,” said Gold, in a statement.
Why now? It helps that beauty products saw growth in 2022 amid the return to in-person experiences. It’s also a category that tends to have resilience in tougher economic times. Beauty products tend to be an “affordable luxury” that people will still splurge on – in part to give themselves a pick-me-up – even if they aren't making big ticket purchases. In the 2001 recession, this observation led former Estee Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder to coin the idea of the “lipstick index” to describe how beauty sales tend to go up, even as the economy goes down. A pullback for the economy can still be a time for an emerging business to grow.
Father's Day is expected to break records, according to NRF and Prosper Insights.
Consumer spending is expected to break records this Father’s Day, according to new data.
A forecast from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics shows the following:
Father’s Day spending is expected to total $22.9 billion.
That would be an increase above the $20 billion spent in 2022, and would break the record of $20.1 billion that was recorded in 2021.
Three-quarters of consumers are planning to celebrate Father’s Day this year.
Average spending per person is expected to reach $196.23. That’s up from $171.79 last year and above the record of $174.10 spent in 2021.
“Father’s Day remains a momentous occasion for Americans to honor the important men in their lives,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay, in a statement. “Consumers plan to celebrate the holiday in a big way this year, and retailers are ready to help make it special.”
Here are a few more key data points from the forecast:
Ecommerce for dad: Online is the biggest shopping destination for Father’s Day gifts, as 43% of consumers are turning to ecommerce. That’s up from 40% last year. Meanwhile, 38% will shop at department stores, up from 34% in 2022.
In the box: The survey showed 42% of consumers are interested in giving a subscription box as a gift. That’s up from 37% last year, and amounts to the highest interest since NRF began tracking the gift option in 2019.
Top demographic: People in the 35-44 age group are the “big spenders,” said Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist. They’re expected to outspend other consumers by $100. The 45-54 age group is expected to see the biggest increase, with $57.04 spent.
Top gifts include clothing (55% plan to buy), a special outing like dinner or brunch (52%), gift cards (48%) and personal care items (32%).
The gift of time together: Nearly one-third plan to give a gift of experience, such as tickets to a sporting event or concert. That’s up 25% from last year, and the highest share since NRF began asking the question in 2016.