The giant countdown clock which has adorned the façade of the inaugural Australian Sephora store for the past week finally hit zero at midday today, Friday 5 December 2014, and with that the doors to the Sydney flagship on Pitt Street Mall opened to consumers – some of whom had queued for over two days – for the very first time.
Sephora Sydney marks the 2000th store for the brand and set out over two levels as part of Westfield Sydney City.
The beauty heaven features over 100 brands across skincare, makeup, haircare, body and fragrance, including over 30 exclusive names such as Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Kat Von D, MAKE UP FOR EVER, Cover FX, Elizabeth and James, Formula X, IT Cosmetics, Tarte and Sephora’s own label.
The world’s largest cosmetics retailer, has committed to adopting US pricing on the newer brands rather than pricing in line with similar local products, even if it means subsiding prices.
“That’s a big promise and we will certainly keep that – that’s a real bone of contention to Aussie consumers,” said Ravi Thakran, Asia and Middle East president for global luxury goods group LVMH.
“Many brands have done a disservice and many retail players have also done a disservice to the retail consumer,” Mr Thakran said. “I believe the Australian consumer does deserve to be treated exactly the same [as US consumers].”
“It could be a short-term sacrifice for a long-term game and we certainly want to go for that,” he said.
World renowned tattoo artist, Kat Von D, who has since launched a successful namesake makeup range, attended the exclusive VIP launch party held in store last night, Thursday 4 December, and will also meet and greet the first 300 customers who purchase a Kat Von D product in the store on Saturday December 6 from 2PM.
Guests at the VIP launch party included Kat Von D, April Rose Pengilly, Nikki Phillips, Demi Harman, Nadia Fairfax, Max May, Margaret Zhang and Erin Holland.
Want to know the prices you can expect? We spied the shopping list at the Plastic Diaries.
The full list of brands you can expert to see at Sephora:
- Alterna
- Andrea Fulerton
- Antonym
- Arcona
- Aspar
- BECCA
- BITE
- Clean
- Cover FX
- Crème Simon
- Dr.Jart
- Elizabeth and James
- Estelle & Thild
- Etat Libre d’Orange
- For Beloved One
- Formula X
- Givenchy Colour
- Hello Kitty
- IT Cosmetics
- Kat Von D
- Leif
- LQD
- MAKE UP FOREVER
- Marc Jacobs Beauty
- Nee’mah
- Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
- Ole Henriksen
- Patricks
- Percy & Reed
- Perfekt
- Sephora Collection
- Shiffa
- Skin Inc.
- Tarte