Latest / Brand Storytelling with Fexingo: Narrative, Mission, and Stories That Sell / How Fenty Beauty Rewrote the Inclusion Playbook
Transcript
- Lucas: So it's July 2026, and if you walk into any Sephora or Ulta today and look at the foundation wall, you'll see shade ranges that go from very pale to very deep — often 30, 40, even 50 options. That was not the case nine years ago. Luna: It really wasn't. I remember shopping for foundation in 2015 and the darkest shade at some brands was barely a medium tan. Lucas: Right. And the conventional wisdom in the beauty industry was that expanding shade ranges didn't make financial sense. The argument was that the R&D cost of formulating for more melanin-heavy skin tones wasn't justified by the expected sales volume. That was the accepted logic. Luna: Until one launch shattered it. September 2017, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna. Lucas: Exactly. Fenty Beauty launched with 40 foundation shades — at a time when the industry average was around 15 to 20. And it wasn't just about having more numbers on the shelf. The shades were actually developed to match real skin tones across the spectrum, not just the typical light-to-medium-plus-one-dark that most brands did. Luna: And it wasn't just Black women who were underserved. There were people with olive undertones, Asian skin tones, mixed-race customers — Fenty had them covered in a way nobody had done at that scale. Lucas: The immediate commercial impact was staggering. Fenty Beauty did 72 million dollars in earned media value in its first month — that's advertising equivalency from press, social media buzz, influencer content. And it wasn't just Rihanna's star power. The '40 shades' story itself became the headline. It was a product feature that functioned as a brand mission. Luna: I think that's the key insight for anyone in marketing: they turned a spec — number of shades — into a values statement. You didn't have to read a mission statement. You just looked at the display and understood: this brand sees me. Lucas: Yeah. And the industry reaction was immediate. Within 12 months, nearly every major competitor — from L'Oreal to Estee Lauder to CoverGirl — announced expanded shade ranges. Some of them went to 35, 40, even 50 shades. The baseline had shifted permanently. Luna: But there's a nuance here. Some critics argued that Fenty didn't invent the concept of wide shade ranges. There were indie brands like Black Up and Iman Cosmetics that had been doing this for years. What Fenty did was bring it to mass retail with major distribution. Lucas: That's a fair point. Fenty had the distribution deal with LVMH — the luxury conglomerate — and they launched in over 1,500 Sephora doors globally on day one. That scale meant the message reached millions of consumers, not just a niche audience. So it's not that they invented inclusion; they proved inclusion could be a mass-market, high-volume business model. Luna: And they backed it up with marketing. The campaign imagery featured models of every skin tone, not just the standard lineup. The diversity was baked into the visual identity, not just the product. Lucas: Let's talk about the supply chain and R&D side, because that's often overlooked. Formulating 40 stable, high-performance foundation shades is not trivial. You need different pigment ratios, different bases to accommodate different skin chemistries. Most brands had been avoiding it because it's expensive and logistically complex. Luna: And Fenty didn't just do it once — they maintained it. They kept the full range in stock, they expanded into concealers, powders, and more. That consistency matters for trust. Lucas: Yeah. If you're a brand that claims to include everyone but then runs out of the deeper shades for weeks, you lose credibility fast. Fenty invested in the supply chain to keep those shades available, which is a less glamorous but equally important part of the story. Luna: Now, let's talk about the ripple effects beyond beauty. This launch became a case study for other industries. Suddenly, every brand was asking: where are we excluding customers by not offering enough variety? Nike expanded its plus-size clothing line. NARS and other makeup brands launched wider shade ranges. Even in fashion, there was more pressure to cast diverse models. Lucas: It changed consumer expectations permanently. Shoppers now see a limited shade range as a sign that a brand is behind the times. It's a reputational risk to not offer broad inclusivity, especially in beauty and fashion. And that's a huge shift from 2016, when it was considered optional. Luna: One thing I find fascinating is that Fenty Beauty initially had a very specific brand voice — it was edgy, inclusive, unapologetic. But the '40 shades' move was so powerful that it transcended the brand itself. It became a cultural moment, not just a product launch. Lucas: That's the holy grail of marketing: when a product decision becomes a news story that spreads organically. Fenty Beauty essentially got months of free press because journalists wanted to write about the 40 shades phenomenon. It was a story about progress, about a celebrity using her platform, about the beauty industry finally catching up. Luna: And it all started with a simple question: why are you only making 15 shades? Rihanna reportedly pushed back against LVMH's initial suggestions for a smaller range. She insisted on 40. Lucas: Which is a great example of a founder using their influence to shape product strategy. But let's also be honest — Rihanna's fame opened doors. An unknown entrepreneur couldn't have demanded 40 shades from LVMH on day one. So there's a privilege element here that we should acknowledge. Luna: Absolutely. The lesson isn't 'be a megastar and demand what you want.' The lesson is that if you have the leverage, use it to set a new standard. And if you don't have that leverage, you can still look at your product line and ask: who are we leaving out? Lucas: And that's a question any brand can ask, regardless of size. It doesn't have to be shades of foundation. It could be sizes in apparel, language options in software, accessibility features in a product. The Fenty playbook is about identifying an exclusion point and treating it as a product opportunity rather than a cost. Luna: Let me jump in with a quick number that always sticks with me. In its first month, Fenty Beauty generated about 72 million dollars in earned media. Compare that to the launch campaign costs — which were significant but not astronomical — and the ROI on that inclusivity bet was enormous. Lucas: Right. And that earned media wasn't just from fashion and beauty outlets. Business publications like Forbes, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal covered the launch because it was a business story — a case of a brand disrupting an established market by challenging a core assumption. Luna: So what's the lasting impact, eight-plus years later? Are brands still learning from Fenty, or has the industry moved on? Lucas: I'd say the baseline has been permanently raised. Most major foundation lines now offer at least 30 shades. But there's still a gap between having the shades and truly understanding the customer. Some brands added shades but didn't invest in the undertone research, so their darker shades still look ashy or orange on real skin. Luna: That's where the Fenty difference remains: they didn't just add numbers; they invested in the science of matching. Their Pro Filt'r formula was designed with a wide range of undertones — warm, neutral, cool — for each depth level. That's harder to copy. Lucas: And speaking of investing in science — you know, this kind of conversation is exactly why we love doing this show. We get to dig into how brands make strategic decisions that actually change consumer expectations. It's a lot of fun to research and talk about. Luna: It really is. And if listeners enjoy these deep dives, there's a small way they can support the show. We keep Brand Storytelling ad-free, and listener contributions help cover research time, editing, and hosting. If these conversations have sparked something you've actually used, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it's a simple way to keep the show going without any ads. No pressure at all — just grateful for anyone who finds value in what we do. And now, back to Fenty. I think one more angle worth exploring is how LVMH handled the partnership. It's rare for a luxury conglomerate to let a celebrity founder have that much control. Luna: True. LVMH typically keeps a tight rein on its brands. But with Fenty, they gave Rihanna significant creative autonomy, including control over the shade range, the packaging design, the ad imagery. And it paid off massively. Lucas: It set a precedent for celebrity-brand partnerships. Now, when a celebrity launches a beauty line, they often point to the Fenty model. Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty, for example, also emphasized inclusivity and mental health messaging, though with a different tone. Luna: And Rare Beauty also launched with a wide shade range — 48 shades, I think. So the Fenty effect is visible there too. The bar was raised. Lucas: I want to close with a thought about sustainability of the mission. Fenty Beauty has faced some criticism over the years — some product quality complaints, some controversy about pricing in different markets. But the inclusivity commitment has remained consistent. They've expanded into skincare, body care, and they still maintain that 50-shade foundation range. Luna: That consistency is what turns a launch moment into a brand identity. If they had dropped the shade range after a year, it would have been seen as a PR stunt. But they stuck with it. Lucas: Exactly. So the takeaway for marketers is: find the dimension of your product where you can meaningfully include more people. Invest in the R&D and supply chain to make that inclusion real. And then communicate it authentically — not as a one-time campaign, but as a core part of your product promise. Fenty Beauty did that with 40 shades, and the industry is still catching up. Luna: And that's a story worth telling. Thanks for listening to Brand Storytelling with Fexingo.