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Overview
Sephora is the world's leading prestige beauty retailer, with more than 3,400 stores worldwide and large online businesses. It sells make-up, skincare, fragrance and haircare from leading luxury houses, fast-growing independent brands and its own label, Sephora Collection. For a prestige or indie beauty brand, being stocked by Sephora is one of the strongest signals of success in the beauty industry.
Who is behind Sephora
Sephora was founded in France and is owned by LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. It is the main part of LVMH's selective retailing division, which had revenue of EUR 18.35 billion in 2025, about 23% of LVMH's sales, with organic growth of 4% and recurring operating profit up 28% to EUR 1.78 billion. Sephora continued to gain market share in 2025 and opened about 100 stores during the year.
Expansion in Europe
Sephora is expanding in Europe. It returned to the UK in 2022, when it converted the online beauty retailer Feelunique into Sephora.co.uk, and opened its first UK store in London in 2023. It now has stores across the UK, including London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. In 2026 Sephora entered Belgium and Croatia. It has more than 130 stores in Italy alone. Sephora's assortment in Europe is about 90% common across countries, with 10% local brands.
What the shopper sees
Sephora is known for its curated mix of brands, exclusive launches, beauty advisers, in-store services and a strong loyalty programme. In the US, Sephora also runs shop-in-shops inside Kohl's stores, which extends its reach.
How brands can work with Sephora
Sephora works with brands as a selective retailer. It looks for brands that bring something genuinely new, such as a unique product, a significant innovation, a compelling founder story or a distinctive point of view. Sephora also runs incubator programmes, such as Sephora Accelerate, and has launched initiatives to support emerging European brands. A brand approaching Sephora should be ready with:
- A distinctive beauty brand with strong consumer demand or community.
- Full cosmetics compliance for each market, such as EU CPNP notification, UK requirements and US MoCRA.
- Marketing investment to support launches, in-store visibility and education for beauty advisers.
- Supply capacity to support large store networks and online demand.
Why Sephora matters for brands
Sephora can turn a beauty brand into a global name, and its expansion in Europe opens new opportunities for brands in more countries.
How eBrands looks at Sephora
eBrands works with brands on marketplaces and retail channels across Europe and North America, and beauty is one of our core categories. If you want to see how Sephora could fit your growth plans, we are happy to talk it through. See also our Kohl's page.
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