[News Inside Companies] Korean Beauty Brand 'Dear Dahlia' Surpasses Chanel in the Middle East

Surpassing Chanel, Standing Shoulder to Shoulder with Dior
Popular in the Global Vegan-Centered Cosmetics Market

Photo by DearDahlia

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The emerging brand 'Dear Dahlia,' created by a Korean small and medium-sized enterprise, is gaining attention in the global beauty market, including Europe and the Middle East. Last year, in the color cosmetics ranking of Faces, the largest luxury cosmetics distribution channel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dear Dahlia ranked second, surpassing 'Chanel,' 'Lanc?me,' and 'Est?e Lauder,' following the luxury brand sales leader 'Dior.' The industry regards this as a surprising development.

Dear Dahlia, a vegan beauty brand under Baram International, has expanded into markets such as France, Poland, Germany, and Qatar within five years of its launch.

According to related industry sources on the 12th, last year Dear Dahlia ranked second in color cosmetics sales in the UAE and fifth in Saudi Arabia through Faces.

Faces operates 85 stores and an online platform across nine countries including the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Its parent company, Chalhoub Group, established in 1955, is the largest luxury distributor in the Middle East, having introduced prestigious luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Fendi to the Middle Eastern market. Due to this, the entry process is stringent, and being listed in Faces signifies a full-fledged entry into the Middle Eastern beauty market.

From its inception, Dear Dahlia targeted the global luxury market and debuted in 2017 as a vegan (vegetarian) cosmetics brand. At that time, targeting vegan consumers or producing and distributing vegan-centered cosmetics was a novel concept in the beauty industry. Starting this way, Dear Dahlia received vegan certifications from internationally renowned animal protection organizations such as PETA and the UK's Vegan Society.

Building on this recognition, Dear Dahlia first established its presence in the European market. In 2019, it officially entered the French department store Galeries Lafayette, and last year, it grew to have about 1,900 stores across 19 European countries. It further expanded into Italy, Germany, Spain, and Belgium. In Poland, the number of stores increased to 77 due to local demand. As of the end of last year, Dear Dahlia had 259 overseas stores in 32 countries, nearly quadrupling from 69 stores in 2020.

Park Rae-hyun, CEO of Dear Dahlia, was known as an 'overseas sales expert' responsible for European distribution at Samyang Corporation. After founding Baram International in 2014 and before launching Dear Dahlia in 2017, he is known to have built a network by handling overseas exports of various cosmetics. The industry evaluates that Dear Dahlia's direct contact with overseas distributors, active promotion of the brand and products, and tailored marketing strategies to local conditions were key to its success.

Baram International has received investments from Amorepacific Group, Quad Asset Management, LB Investment, and JS Corporation, and plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in the mid to long term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.