Kosé is #1 on this year's list of Top Global Beauty Companies. 

Below is a look at the company’s 2018 highlights, latest launches, and new leadership.

Corporate Sales

$2.3 billion

Beauty Sales

$1.7 billion (FY 2017 Beauty Sales: $2.3 billion)

Key Personnel

• Kazutoshi Kobayashi, president and chief executive officer
• Jiro Nakabayashi, senior executive officer
• Yasuhiro Kamio, senior executive officer
• Tadanobu Hayashi, executive officer
• Koichi Shinmoto, executive officer
• Tomoyuki Nio, executive officer
• Takumi Hasegawa, executive officer
• Minoru Ushimura, executive officer
• Akinobu Hayashi, executive officer
• Noboru Matsumoto, executive officer
• Shinichi Mochizuki, executive officer
• Isao Fujiwara, executive officer
• Noriyuki Arai, executive officer
• Yoshinori Haratani, executive officer

Major Products/Brands

• Decorté, Decorté AQ, Jill Stuart, Sekkisei, Infinity,
• Sekkisei MYV, Addiction, Prédia, Paul Stuart, Awake,
• tarte, Anna Sui, Paul & Joe, Elegance Paris, In Fiore;
• One by Kosé, Shirosumi, Hadakiwami, Astablanc, Esprique,
• Carté Clinity, Crie, Phil Naturant, Formule, Maihada; Visée,
• Fasio, Elsia, Nature & Co, SportsBeauty, Nailholic,
• Stephen Knoll New York, Rimmel, Softymo, Je l’aime, Clear Turn,
• Suncut, Kokutousei and Grace One skin care, cosmetics and toiletries

New Products

• AQ skin care products
• AQ Meliority Intensive Cream
• Sekkisei powder foundation
• One by Kosé whitening serum
• Bioliss hair care products
• One by Kosé The Wrinkless
• Cosme Decorte base makeup products
• iP.Shot Advanced wrinkle reducer
• Visee Lishe eye color palette
• tarte pineapple of my eye collector’s set

Kosé - Sales, Manufacturing, & More 

Kosé enjoyed a profitable fiscal year. Sales and operating profits set a new record. Corporate sales were up almost 14%, and cosmetics brands proved to be the big moneymakers: Sales of cosmetics jumped 15% and represented more than 75% of the company’s total sales.

Regionally, domestic sales in Japan, which accounted for roughly 25% of the company’s total sales, grew 8%, while international sales rose nearly 37% with solid growth in China and South Korea. tarte gave Kosé’s North American market sales a tidy, 38% boost, with the number of stores selling tarte increasing to 2,500.

Kosé focused a good deal of its 2017 attention to expanding the overseas focus of its brands. After introducing its cosmetics to Italy in 2012, last year the company debuted its Decorté brand in high-end department stores in North America, while at the same time, expanding sales in European and American markets. The company also opened its first flagship store, Maison Decorté, in Tokyo Ginza Six in April. What’s more, Kosé broadened the availability of its Addiction makeup brand and marked the occasion by expanding the number of foundation colors to better meet the needs of global consumers.

In March, Kosé opened Gunma Factory, a new “mother” manufacturing facility tasked with producing the company’s “highly value-added” products. In July Kosé also established Kosé R&D France, the company’s first European R&D facility, located in Lyon, France. The Lyon branch will concentrate on dermatological technology.

Also, in July, Kosé became a member of the UN Global Compact to affirm its commitment to environmental sustainability. The company has long participated in environmental initiatives. For instance, in 2017 its Sekkisei brand conducted its ninth “Save the Blue” campaign. Nine limited-edition products were launched in Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. A portion of the product sales are donated to fund coral cultivation activities in Okinawa. According to the company, the coral grown is equivalent to the total surface area of the bottom of the product containers of all eligible Sekkisei products sold during the promotional period. Over the last eight years, the venture has generated the planting of 12,550 coral polyps.

News of Note in 2018

In July, Kosé released a fiscal operational update that confirmed ongoing record-high sales and operating performances for the fifth consecutive year, fueled by big increases in Cosme Decorté sales and consistent growth sales by its Albion Group, and tarte in the U.S.

Kosé said it expected sales to increase by 6.5% this year, driven by a 7.6% cosmetic sales boost. With its Rimmel London license set to expire in October, the company will rely on five key global brands—Decorté, Sekkisei, Jill Stuart, Addiction and Clear Turn—to drive sustained growth worldwide. If all goes according to plan, the company anticipates sales of ¥500 billion (an average annual growth rate of 5.8% or more).