Kering moves Gucci's beauty licence from Coty to L'Oréal a year early

Kering said Gucci and L'Oréal have entered a 50-year exclusive beauty licence agreement, effective mid-2027, a year ahead of schedule. The deal ends Gucci's existing beauty licence with Coty, which had been due to run until 30 June 2028, one year early.

According to Kering, Coty will receive approximately $400 million for the early redemption of its licence, made up of $250 million paid in 2026 and up to $150 million in 2027, plus the transfer of selected inventories. L'Oréal will cover roughly 70% of that redemption cost, the company said. Kering also released a comment from L'Oréal chief executive Luca de Meo, who said: "Today's agreement creates value for Gucci, L'Oréal and Coty alike."

Paying to end a licence a year early, rather than simply waiting it out, is Kering buying back control of Gucci's brand positioning sooner. Beauty is usually the first category a luxury house licenses out, and among the hardest to keep on-brand at scale, so handing Gucci's fragrance and cosmetics to L'Oréal ahead of schedule signals Kering wants that alignment now, not after Coty's contract naturally lapses — a sign of how central rebuilding Gucci is to Kering's own turnaround.

The Japanese consequence lands on a beauty hall floor. A licensed fragrance and cosmetics brand in Japan is only as present as its licensee's field organisation: the counter negotiated with the department store, the beauty advisors standing at it, and the launch calendar that decides which gift season it plays. Moving Gucci from Coty to L'Oréal hands that work to a company with a considerably deeper Japanese beauty operation. In our view the visible test from mid-2027 is whether Gucci's counters on the department-store beauty floors gain space and staff, or simply a new name on the contract — a people and presentation question that will show up on the floor long before it shows up in a fragrance.