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On the opening morning of SEPHORiA London, Sephora Vice President of Marketing Europe Elodie Barbé spoke to TheIndustry.beauty about bringing the retailer’s flagship beauty festival to the UK for the first time, introducing the winners of its inaugural European incubator prize and the strategic thinking behind its landmark partnership with Marks & Spencer.
Taking place on 16-17 October at 180 Studios on The Strand, this year’s SEPHORiA marks the latest milestone in Sephora’s growing focus on the UK market. Reflecting soaring demand, tickets sold out in just 10 minutes, according to Barbé, with beauty enthusiasts travelling from across the UK and wider Europe to attend.
Offering an immersive programme of product discovery, workshops, live performances and interactive experiences, the two-day festival brings together more than 40 beauty brands, including Tatcha, Haus Labs, Phlur, Laneige and Charlotte Tilbury, as part of a diverse line-up of established names and emerging talent.
For Barbé, a defining feature of the London edition is its considered curation, with experiences designed to reflect both the breadth of Sephora’s brand portfolio and the emerging trends shaping the future of beauty.
“What I really like about this edition is the curation. But it goes beyond the brands; it’s also about curating trends. We feel we have a responsibility and a role to play within the beauty community by making emerging trends accessible and easy to understand,” Barbé tells TheIndustry.beauty.
The experience explores key movements across the industry, from hyper-personalisation and Asian beauty to next-generation innovation and beauty services. Across the three “neighbourhoods”, visitors can engage with the products, rituals and ideas driving these developments, transforming beauty discovery into an immersive, interactive and shareable experience.
“I particularly love highlighting the next big thing, because that’s what really makes a difference. For me, revealing the brands that will be launching at Sephora in the future is a gift to our community. It gives them an exclusive preview of what’s coming next at Sephora – a glimpse of what we’re working on,” Barbé adds.
This forward-looking approach was exemplified by the inaugural European Sephora Prize, the retailer’s incubation programme. The initiative attracted 150 applications in just four weeks, with ten finalists shortlisted and the winners announced at the event.
French brand Substance of Light, founded by Clara Nentille in 2021, took first place for its approach to photoprotection, combining high UV protection with skincare benefits and sensorial textures designed to make daily SPF application more appealing.
Second place went to French Cowboy, which impressed with its ambition to make haute parfumerie more accessible and its collaborative approach to fragrance creation. Meanwhile, third place was awarded to Omad’s, a Belgian haircare brand focused on enhancing and naturally brightening blonde hair. Drawing inspiration from a homemade recipe passed down through generations, the brand develops products using ingredients of natural origin to gradually lighten hair at home.
“Working with these three brands was a very human journey for us. They’re not simply creating brands to make money; they’re driven by a desire to build something meaningful and offer something truly valuable to their customers,” Barbé explains.
Sephora’s incubation programme aims to identify emerging brands with distinctive propositions and strong long-term growth potential, providing founders with access to the retailer’s expertise, resources and customer base to help accelerate their development.
Beyond retail distribution, the prize offers founders practical expertise and tailored, long-term support to help them scale their businesses. This includes mentorship across finance, supply chain and merchandising, alongside opportunities to engage directly with Sephora’s beauty advisors and customers.
“To be launched at Sephora is a big step change for them, but it’s not the only thing. What we really want to offer is long-term support and 360-degree mentorship,” Barbé adds.
As the first-place winner, Substance of Light will enter a three-year acceleration programme with Sephora, including visibility through its The Next Big Thing campaign. French Cowboy and Omad’s will each receive one year of support, with exposure across Sephora’s digital, CRM and social media channels.
The initiative comes as Sephora continues to strengthen its UK presence, following its return to physical retail in 2023 with stores at Westfield. The retailer has since expanded its footprint, opening its first boutique-format location on Carnaby Street this summer, followed by a store at Old Spitalfields Market.
In July, Sephora UK Managing Director Sarah Boyd told TheIndustry.beauty that the business was on track to operate 20 stores in the UK by the end of 2026.
The retailer’s expansion reflects its confidence in the UK beauty market, with Barbé pointing to the response to Sephora’s return as evidence of strong consumer demand for its distinctive approach to beauty retail.
“The UK and Sephora have a long love story, which resumed three years ago. Since then, we’ve enjoyed tremendous momentum, opening more and more stores. Every time we open a new location, we’re reminded of just how much the UK beauty community has been looking forward to experiencing Sephora,” notes Barbé.
“There are already plenty of beauty retailers in the UK, but what customers are looking for from Sephora is a connection to the latest trends, expert advice from our beauty advisors and a carefully curated selection. It’s also incredibly exciting to see the way people turn out for our store openings. The atmosphere is almost like a concert, with communities coming together to be part of the experience.”
Local relevance is central to this strategy, Barbé explained, shaping every consumer touchpoint, from store design to marketing and events.
While Sephora maintains a distinctive global retail identity, she believes each location should reflect the character of its surroundings. The Carnaby Street boutique, for example, exemplifies how the retailer can retain its recognisable brand identity while creating a store that feels rooted in its local context.
“The Carnaby Street boutique has turned out to be my favourite Sephora store in the world,” Barbé reveals. “I really like how we preserved some of the original walls and the natural character of the space, retaining the atmosphere of Carnaby Street. It’s unmistakably a Sephora store, but one that feels completely at home in its surroundings. We couldn’t simply take this store and put it somewhere else. For me, that’s the golden recipe.”
“We’ll take the same approach with the M&S project, combining Sephora’s strong identity and brand promise with a design that feels genuinely rooted in its local environment.”
Announced last month, the landmark partnership will see Sephora launch shop-in-shop spaces in selected M&S stores and on M&S.com from spring 2027, with plans to expand to 100 locations across the UK.
The collaboration will bring Sephora’s prestige beauty offering to M&S stores across high streets and retail parks, extending its reach beyond its existing standalone locations. In-store, customers will have access to specialist beauty teams, while the online partnership will offer an expanded assortment, with home delivery and Click & Collect available through M&S stores nationwide.
The range will span skincare, make-up, fragrance, haircare and bodycare, bringing together established and emerging brands alongside selected exclusives.
For Barbé, the partnership represents a natural fit, built on a shared focus on customers and a commitment to creating distinctive beauty experiences.
“I think it really comes down to shared values, the same obsession with the customer, and a shared vision of what we want to build and create for our customers and communities,” Barbé tells TheIndustry.beauty. “It’s funny because when we first started discussing the project internally and [Sephora UK Managing Director] Sarah Boyd proposed the partnership, everyone immediately thought it made perfect sense. It felt like a natural step for both businesses.”
Looking ahead, beyond the UK, Barbé sees a beauty industry shaped by rapid innovation, the emergence of new brands, and increasingly blurred boundaries between categories.
As consumers become more invested in their skincare, make-up, haircare and fragrance routines, she believes the opportunity lies in products and experiences that combine tangible results with sensorial appeal, reflecting a more holistic approach to beauty.
“There are so many new brands, trends, innovations and products emerging. What I really love is how the boundaries between beauty categories are becoming increasingly blurred,” she concludes. “It’s exciting to see how these categories are coming together, with products that deliver results while also making the experience of using them a pleasure.”
