While African-American women and Latinas have started to gain attention as markets, women who are Asian-Americans, often called the silent minority, to a large degree have been overlooked by cosmetics companies.
A new joint venture between Coty and Yue-Sai Kan Cosmetics, a leading brand in China, wants to change that. In addition to expanding its market in China, Coty plans to introduce the line for Asian women in the United States next year, said Peter Harf, the company's chairman.Kan, who lives in New York and is a popular television personality in her native China, started the cosmetic company in 1992.
"I really don't believe there's a brand for everybody," she said. "The Swedish woman, for example, is so different to me. How can I possibly use the same things she uses and expect them to look as good on me."
Angelo Ragaza, the managing editor of A, a magazine in the United States covering Asian-Americans, said a line like Yue-Sai Kan should do well since marketers rarely make direct appeals to the Asian-American customer. CK Calvin Klein and Iman cosmetics are two of the few cosmetic or fragrance lines that have advertised in A, he said.
"A typical experience for Asian women is to look at beauty and fashion editorial and beauty and fashion advertising and not see a single Asian woman," he said.
- Constance C.R. White