Princess Marcella Borghese
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Until 1947, when the constitution of the newly-formed Republic of Italy abolished the Consulta araldica and its recognition of formerly noble titles, Marcella Borghese (1911-2002) was an Italian princess.
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[edit] History
Born Marcella Fazi in Sicily in 1911, she became the second wife of widower Prince Paolo Borghese in 1938. She would give birth to twin boys, Francesco and Livio, the same year. She also had a daughter, Anita Mauritzi, from a previous marriage.
The fashion conscious princess had toiletries, including makeup, made specifically for her using the natural ingredients found around the Villa Borghese in Rome, where the family lived. She wanted to create a line of lipsticks in a wider variety of shades than what was available at the time, and once Pope Pius XII gave the cosmetics his blessing, pushed forward with the idea.
[edit] Charles H Revson
In 1956, Italian-American businessman Gino DiGrandi introduced Marcella to cosmetics magnate, Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon. The two struck up a lifelong friendship, as he helped her to create her cosmetics line, and bought it as a subsidiary of the company.
Revlon- a mainstay brand in department stores at the time- was losing market share to newcomer Estee Lauder, whose higher price points and limited distribution strategy edged out the more established brands. Most of the competition took notice, and countered with department store-exclusive brands: Coty launched Dina Merrill; Faberge had Juliette Marglen; Charles of the Ritz purchased the already established Alexandra de Markoff and Lanvin; Max Factor’s contribution was called Geminesse; and, of course, Revlon’s contribution was Princess Marcella Borghese. While most of these names invoked status and prestige, Revlon’s was the only one associated with legitimate royalty.
One of Marcella's first collections included brightly colored lipsticks and nail colors to match the vivid colors of her fashion designer friend, Emilio Pucci's knitwear. Her Montecatini Cosmetic line, named after her favorite spa, (and an ancient town in Tuscany), used the healing properties of the Terme di Montecatini mud and the mineral waters. The innovative Princess was one of the first people to create a skincare line which was based on the natural therapies of a spa.
Although Borghese (as the line came to be known as) was the most enduring and successful of the aforementioned brands, it did not significantly improve Revlon’s market share in the department store sector, and remained a niche brand. However, the Revlon brand, as well as Revlon’s beauty portfolio, was profitable enough to ensure Borghese’s place in upper end stores.
[edit] Post Charles Revson
After Charles Revson’s death in 1975, Revlon president Michel Berjerac pulled the Revlon brand out of department store distribution altogether, citing rising costs, changing consumer tastes, a corporate shift from cosmetics to consumer goods at Revlon, and the progressively shrinking significance of department stores. Without Revlon’s millions of dollars in sales, Borghese (and the entire Revlon prestige portfolio) became very small, insignificant players in an arena that would be dominated by Cosmair (later L’Oreal) and Estee Lauder. Borghese's presence begain to weaken, as retailers consolidated floor space to the more profitable brands. Revlon's entire prestige portfolio would stagnate for the next several years, trailing along as rivals ate away at their increasingly shrinking market share.
Ownership of Revlon changed in 1985 (in the infamous takeover by Ronald Perelman’s Pantry Pride), and new ownership sold off Revlon’s non-cosmetics businesses to renew its focus on beauty. Borghese was finally infused with marketing and research & development capital, but massive debt and a strategy to grow through acquisitions cut Borghese's turnaround short. Efforts to consolidate and economize the underperforming brands backfired, and increasing turnover in management left Borghese's future in limbo.
[edit] Post Revlon
Although the prestige portfolio, under Ronald Perelman's leadership, would grow to include many other high-end brands, by 1991 Revlon sold Borghese to Saudi investors. Halston-Borghese, as it became known, staggered for several years until the investors group gave up and sold Borghese to American Georgette Mosbacher, who had success with the La Prairie brand in the early 1990's. Her strategies to re-establish Borghese as a leader in the prestige category did not prove effective, and in 2006 Borghese began to appear in Costco. This greatly impacted Borghese's already weak department store presence in lower end stores like The Bon Ton.
[edit] Costco
In 2007, Borghese began to develop beauty products for Costco's private label, Kirkland Signature, at even lower prices. These products read : "Kirkland Signature by Borghese", and have had an increasing presence in Costco stores. It is speculated that Borghese will eventually function strictly as a Costco private label.
The Princess Marcella Borghese remained involved in the line named after her until her death on January 19th, 2002, in her home in Montreux, Switzerland. She was 90 years old, and was buried in the family crypt at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
