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Pleasing, the direct-to-consumer beauty and lifestyle brand founded by Harry Styles in November 2021, is embarking on its next phase of growth as it appoints its first-ever CEO.
Shaun Kearney, who has 25 years of experience, joins from Goop, the wellbeing and lifestyle empire founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, where he was mostly recently chief design and merchandising officer. At Pleasing, his priorities will be to diversify its product offering, introduce new categories and grow its creative and collaborative community, according to the brand. Kearney is also tasked with developing “strategic” partnerships to expand its universe.
“We are delighted to have Shaun join the Pleasing team. His exceptional vision and extensive experience will be invaluable as we enter the next chapter of Pleasing,” said Styles in a statement.
Kearney joins Pleasing at a time when male celebrities are talking more about beauty and grooming, and are coming to market with their own beauty offerings. While colour cosmetics for men remains a smaller space, Pleasing’s joyful offering of nail polishes and other products and videos on social platforms like TikTok has young consumers hooked.
Pleasing acts as an extension of Styles’s universe, allowing consumers to feel like they are one step closer to his world. But unlike other celebrity-led beauty brands, where the stars are more noticeably involved with the creation and marketing of their products — such as Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty or Hailey Bieber’s Rhode — Styles has remained behind the scenes, leaving his brand in the hands of co-creative directors Harry Lambert and Molly Hawkins.
Last September, Pleasing unveiled a collaboration with Brazilian fashion designer Marco Ribeiro for his debut Spring/Summer 2023 presentation at Paris Fashion Week. In November 2022, Pleasing launched a series of global pop-ups across London, New York and Los Angeles, to celebrate its first anniversary and mark the festive season with its fifth collection, Super Magic Family Time.
“I am thrilled to be joining Pleasing as we set the brand up for future scale and success,” says Kearney in a statement. “We have a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on people’s lives and expand our product offering through many different lifestyle verticals and multiple channels of business.”
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