Tapping of-the-moment celebrities to buttress its creative direction has proved fruitful for Loops Beauty once before, and with its latest partnership, the skin care brand is hoping to strike gold a second time.
Loops, which was founded in 2020 by brand incubator Syllable in collaboration with content production house Shots Studio, has appointed “Riverdale” actress Camila Mendes as its partner and creative director ahead of its launch at 450 Ulta Beauty doors Aug. 1.
“No one’s more tapped into culture than Camila,” said Colin Peek, chief creative officer of Syllable, who cofounded Loops alongside Aditya Julka. “She has such a keen eye and a tremendous, astute taste for what is happening in the skin care world.”
In her new role, Mendes will support and advise the brand in its product development, sustainability initiatives, event ideation, social media strategy and influencer partnerships.
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“I feel like this is a completely new role that I’ve started to be interested in,” said Mendes, for whom this partnership marks her first foray into the beauty business. “Taking on this role with Loops was just a very natural progression for me and my career. The products are straightforward, and so easy to weave into a skin care routine — I just really believe in this minimal, yet also really effective approach to skin care.”
Mendes succeeds model Emily Ratajkowski as creative director of the brand, while Ratajkowski, who initially joined forces with Loops in October 2020, is now a co-owner.
“Just like Emily, Camila is one of those few and far between celebrities out there that just sort of has a Midas touch,” said Peek. “Partnerships that are authentic, and based off of people really loving the products, are what succeed — when you try to slap a celebrity’s name onto a brand and pay that person, it just really doesn’t work — it’s super inauthentic, and the community and the audience can tell.”
Loops offers a variety of need-based face masks, ranging in price from $25 for a bundle of five under-eye masks, to $95 for its Big Night Out 15-mask bundle. The brand also offers a subscription service, which it is presently refining to allow for increased personalization based on consumers’ respective needs.
Beginning Aug. 1, Loops’ entire portfolio will be available for purchase at ulta.com, while key skus will make their way into the retailer’s brick-and-mortar locations — where Peek envisioned the brand would land since its very inception. “We always saw Ulta as a first partner for us,” said Peek. “We’re excited to really explode through the retail channel, as well as build out our d-to-c [direct-to-consumer] channel even further.”
Loops skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic, with celebrities including Vanessa Hudgens and Emma Roberts showing love to the brand via social media, prompting fans to follow suit in hordes. While the brand has made a name for itself with its face masks, which tackle concerns including aging, dark spots and plumping, it is seeking to bring its magic to the body category in the near future, as well — an initiative Mendes has played a key role in pioneering.
“As a forward-thinking brand today, your consumers deserve and have earned the right, by purchasing from you, to weigh in on product development and the trajectory of the business,” Peek said. “That’s something that Camila feels really strongly about, as do we, and something that we definitely want to empower moving forward.”