Sephora Partners With Olive Young, Korea’s Top Beauty Retailer

Sephora, the LVMH-owned prestige beauty retailer, is beginning a strategic partnership with CJ Olive Young, Korea’s top wellness and beauty retailer, in a move to bring booming Korean beauty to Sephora shoppers around the world. Launching this fall, it will work as an omnichannel partnership under which top curated Korean brands will be available at Sephora both online and in-store in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong SAR and Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) to begin with.

Adding Popular K-Beauty to Sephora’s Roster

Olive Young will collaborate with Sephora to introduce a dedicated K-beauty zone curated directly by the Korean retailer. In doing so, Sephora will not only gain credibility as a destination for K-beauty, but also secure the ability to offer the best assortment in this category, thanks to Olive Young’s expertise in offering the best brands and products, backed by trends and customer data.

Priya Venkatesh, Global Chief Merchandising Officer at Sephora, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to partner with leading Korean beauty retailer Olive Young, bringing their expertly curated assortment of Korean beauty brands to our beauty fans globally. Their differentiated assortment, coupled with Sephora’s unique point of view on the beauty shopping experience, will bring an unrivalled and inspiring offer for all beauty lovers who are keen to explore the most sought-after Korean beauty products”.

This move signals a significant turning point for K-beauty: with Sephora being the global leader in beauty retail, the partnership indicates a clear intention to democratize Korean beauty, make it more accessible worldwide and bring global visibility to Korean brands. The demand is clearly there: for the first time, K-beauty represented the number one country of cosmetics imports in the U.S., surpassing France, and hitting $1.7 billion in 2024. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, this represents a 54% increase YoY, highlighting a considerable surge in interest from U.S. consumers.

While Sephora — and other retailers such as Ulta — have been offering Korean beauty to their customers for some time, partnering with Korea’s leading wellness and beauty retailer hints at no small ambition: move K-beauty from niche to center stage, while being the first to capture rising Korean trends thanks to Olive Young’s positioning and expertise.

Youngah Lee, Chief Strategy Officer at CJ Olive Young, shared: “We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Sephora as we continue to advance our global expansion strategy. As global interest in K-beauty continues to accelerate, we see this collaboration as a meaningful opportunity to work together in expanding the reach of Korean brands in key international markets.”

The Korean retailer will play a key role in shaping the category abroad, choosing which brands and trends to bring forward and share with international beauty shoppers. For consumers, this partnership may mark a shift toward higher expectations in skincare performance, innovation and speed to market, driven by Korea’s beauty ecosystem, potentially reshaping demand, beauty regimens and consumer preferences when it comes to skincare and beauty.