The Estée Lauder Companies has named Philippe Pinatel as MAC Cosmetics Senior Vice President Global General Manager, effective 5 March.
Pinatel will join The Estée Lauder Companies’ Executive Leadership Team and report directly to Executive Group President John Demsey.
Pinatel has over 20 years’ experience building fast-growing, large-scale online and retail operations. He will guide how brand teams work together to further increase operational efficiency while prioritising expansion in high-growth channels. He will also evolve distribution and build new cutting-edge capabilities to drive relevance and engagement with existing and new consumers.
Pinatel joins from beauty retailer Birchbox, where he has served as President and Chief Operations Officer since 2015. Prior to Birchbox, Pinatel served as Senior Vice President and General Manager (GM) of Sephora Canada, and Vice President and GM of Sephora Inside JCPenney.
The Estée Lauder Companies Executive Group President John Demsey commented: “Philippe shares our vision to propel the brand into its next chapter of growth, reinvigorating MAC’s presence and impact on the industry globally.
“He brings tremendous experience from disruptive online and retail channels that have experienced explosive growth under his direction. His transformative approach to leadership, strength in brand-building and extensive digital-first beauty experience will inspire new ways for the brand to lead as the renegade and trendsetter in the beauty and retail industries.”
Pinatel succeeds MAC Cosmetics Global Brand President Karen Buglisi Weiler. Buglisi Weiler, who has been with the brand for 20 years, will leave the company on 31 December to prioritise personal commitments.
She will support Pinatel’s transition through the end of the current fiscal year. In July, Buglisi Weiler will move into an advisory role and extend support to MAC Cosmetics and The Estée Lauder Companies’ North America Region.
Buglisi Weiler was one of the first MAC employees hired when The Estée Lauder Companies fully acquired the brand in 1998. At that time, MAC’s North America business consistently experienced double-digit growth, outpacing industry growth under her leadership as Vice President, North America Sales and Artist Training. In 2010 she was promoted to Global Brand President. She helped grow the brand from 1,400 doors to more than 3,400 and increased the brand’s presence from 74 countries to 106.
For more than a decade Buglisi Weiler has served on the Board of Directors for the MAC AIDS Fund, which has helped to raise over US$450 million for those affected by HIV/AIDS.
The Estée Lauder Companies President and Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda said: “I would like to sincerely thank Karen for the strong success she helped MAC achieve under her leadership and for her deep dedication to the brand. As Karen takes this important personal step forward, I am also thrilled to welcome Philippe to our company. The MAC brand will strongly benefit from his tremendous leadership in this important role.”
