How Fenty Beauty wove itself into the fabric of China’s beauty culture

For the latest on skincare, cosmetics, fragrances, wellness, emerging Chinese and APAC beauty brands, subscribe to our weekly Jing Beauty Newsletter. Along a winding trail lined with softly glowing mushrooms illuminated in Fenty Beauty’s full foundation spectrum, visitors walked into a magical “rainforest” inspired by the lush landscape of southwest China’s Yunnan. Nestled beneath their caps were petite mushrooms bearing 50 shade numbers. From this “glow-shroom forest,” visitors crossed a “luminous lake” and a “radiant teahouse” before reaching an “indigo hour village” to create their personalized Fenty Beauty looks. This “Fenty Glow Journey” in the shifting light from dawn to dusk, staged at the historic City Hall on The Bund in Shanghai on April 21, was delicately designed to mark the one-year anniversary of Fenty Beauty in the Chinese mainland, and the launch of its new Soft’Lit foundation. Since its debut across major Chinese cities through a partnership with Sephora in April last year, this celebrity brand has immediately become the go-to label for beauty enthusiasts in search of authenticity and individuality. On Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), #fentybeauty has accrued nearly 69 million views to date. Fenty Beauty’s astounding success stands out amid the much volatility clouding China’s beauty market, where more than 20 beauty brands have either exited or reshuffled their channels since mid-2024. In an unprecedented move, the brand introduced a boundary-breaking range of 50 foundation shades to the country, playing a pioneering role in reshaping Chinese consumers’ beauty standards and expectations. In this way, it goes beyond its celebrity name and thrives on its cultural humility, celebration of inclusivity and free spirit, search of deeper connections with consumers in addition to localized marketing strategies. Localizing with cultural openness and humility Robyn Rihanna Fenty, the superstar songstress from Barbados, is no stranger to record-breaking entrepreneurship feats, from her collaboration with Puma as creative director, which helped vitalize the struggling sports brand, to her founding of Fenty Beauty, widely credited with revolutionizing the beauty industry. Her active engagement in every campaign with keen cultural sensitivities has catapulted Fenty Beauty to soaring popularity. Shortly after Fenty Beauty entered the Chinese mainland last spring, she landed in Shanghai and made a surprise visit to the first Fenty Beauty Alley — a pop-up blending urban aesthetics with local cultural elements including a bubble tea stall that doubled as a shade finder, a Mahjong room, and a vintage-style hair salon. At the pop-up, she even rolled up her sleeves and whipped up “jianbing” — a traditional breakfast crepe in east China’s Shandong province, as a nod to her moniker “Shandong Queen,” given to her by her Chinese fans in 2011 when her hit We Found Love was phonetically read as “Weifang de ai,” which in Mandarin means “love of Weifang,” a city in Shandong. This viral moment created a full circle for many young Chinese who are re-embracing tradition through a modern lens. At the one-year anniversary event, lines of products were presented alongside folding fans, brushes, teacups, and lanterns, all in shades drawn from the brand’s signature color range, in a tawny-lit hall, creating an immersive space where modern beauty seamlessly merged with traditional culture. Launching in China is a cultural commitment, according to Antonius Hanegraaf, Vice President and General Manager of Asia and Global Travel Retail at Kendo, a division of LVMH, with which Rihanna founded Fenty Beauty in 2017. "Rihanna’s hands-on approach — from approving every shade to being the face of our campaigns — gives the brand a deeply personal, human voice,” he tells Jing Daily. The brand’s appointment of Dylan Wang, the actor and singer known for his bold self-expression and strong appeal among young Chinese, as a global ambassador reflects its astute awareness of the ethos of the country’s Gen Z cohort. Earlier this month, the brand welcomed its 1 millionth shade-matching customer across over 320 Sephora stores. The omnichannel presence, including using the online shade-matching tool, also caters to the consumer behaviors of the young generation, according to Xia Ding, Managing Director of Sephora Greater China. ‘Inclusivity = Individuality’ — Redefining beauty standards in China For a long time in the Western world, the beauty industry was dominated by the Eurocentric beauty standard where diversity was more of a token. In 2017, Fenty Beauty made waves with a plethora of foundations, bronzers, and concealers that match as many skin tones as possible, rewriting the business’ relationship with diversity. In China, the ideal of female beauty has long centered on a “pale, slender, youthful” appearance despite growing discussions on how this single standard contributes to body image anxieties. More recently, the “pretty, wealthy, stylish” female image has gained popularity. Either way, a conformist ideal of beauty remains firmly anchored. That was why, when Fenty Beauty entered the Chinese market a year ago, it disrupted the beauty scene and ignited a buzz among progressive young women. The beauty line interprets its philosophy of “inclusivity” as “individuality” in China, while as “diversity” in Western markets, a nuanced response grounded in its close observation of China’s consumer landscape. The unmatched offering of shades and colors to this market has helped reinforce the idea that beauty exists in different forms and that women can’t be typecast. “Bringing less than 50 shades was never an option — our mission is to make everyone feel seen,” Hanegraaf told Jing Daily at the one-year anniversary event. “Rihanna has always had a strong vision that Fenty Beauty is here as a tool to help people celebrate their own unique beauty. And that was our anchor to ensure that we’re doing right by the market.” Fenty Beauty made its foray into the Chinese market also at a time when the aspirations of modern Chinese women and traditional gender norms were changing. Millennial and Gen Z women, mostly from China’s one-child generation who have experienced the country’s huge socio-economic changes, are gaining a renewed sense of womanhood. A study reveals that since the generation born after 1985, the percentage of women receiving higher education has surpassed that of their husbands. Greater educational attainment and professional growth than previous generations, coupled with the fact that many are the sole inheritors of their family wealth, are quietly reshaping the mindset of this vast consumer cohort. According to the 2024 women’s consumption insight report released by JLL, a global professional services firm, post-Gen Z women are driving the country’s “she economy” with a distinctive preference for authenticity and individuality. Beauty, in their eyes, is not about perfection or conformity. As Hanegraaf says, Fenty Beauty sees beauty as “playful, expressive, and deeply personal.” ‘Be a trendsetter, not a trend follower’ Apart from individuality, what Fenty Beauty has championed all along is a free-spirited, self-pleasing lifestyle, which aligns with the evolving mindset of Chinese consumers. With “no rules” in mind when creating products, the brand is tapping into a growing movement in China by encouraging consumers to follow their hearts, not fleeting trends, in times of economic uncertainty and ongoing consumer whiplash. Playing by the rules also applies to the beauty and fashion industry. For instance, the hemline index, coined in the U.S.’ Roaring 1920s, links economic sentiments with skirt lengths, which tend to be shorter during economic booms and longer amid downturns. As the luxury sector continues to navigate a tepid economy, Fenty Beauty has emerged as a pillar sustaining the momentum of LVMH’s perfumes and cosmetics business, owing to its expanded presence in China in addition to a new range of haircare products. Its message of self-pleasure over conformity has valorized the cultural trend of breaking stereotypes. “Beauty is also freedom and flexibility. There are no rules — you can just have fun with beauty,” Hanegraaf says. The brand also sets itself apart by encouraging consumers to define and create their own versions of beauty. For instance, some use the Match Stix Contour stick as eyeshadow and even lip liner, while others use the Diamond Bomb highlighter not only on the face, but also on the body and even in their hair. “Rihanna leads with authenticity — never following trends but creating them,” Hanegraaf says. By breaking the mold in the beauty industry with 50 shades, Fenty Beauty helps expand the definition of beauty at a time when Chinese consumers are breaking the mold of traditional female archetypes and gendered ideals. Aiming to empower a mindset instead of selling a look, the brand warrants reigning supreme among its consumers. Its acute sensitivity to the evolving aspirations of young and middle-aged Chinese women, shaped by both societal change and personal growth, has enabled it to build an authentic, lasting connection with an increasingly self-defined generation of beauty consumers, in addition to shifting public perceptions of what is beautiful.

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How Fenty Beauty wove itself into the fabric of China’s beauty culture