gitti’s polish is not your regular polish. The nail paints developed by this Berlin-based brand are “19-free”, vegan and eco-friendly. “19-free” means that 19 questionable ingredients found in most conventional nail polishes have been replaced with better alternatives, either plant-based or water-based. In the beauty market, that’s a game changer. An average woman uses 12 different beauty products every day, most of them containing toxic ingredients which are suspected of causing serious health and environmental issues.
The brand itself is modern and driven by strong values such as “allclusivity”, “authenticity”, “community”, “change”, “sustainability” and “innovation”. Born digital and direct-to consumer, gitti speaks directly to the younger generation, looking for more sustainable, “clean” and inclusive brands. We are convinced that this generation will radically change the product assortment we’ll find in stores and online in the years to come.
Behind this new kind of “conscious” company, Jennifer Baum-Minkus, the founder, is a seasoned expert of B2C products and brand-building (she used to work at Coca-Cola and Henkel). She was featured in Germany’s version of Shark Tank, which increased the visibility of the brand overnight. But even before appearing on TV, gitti was a success: in April 2019, the first collection sold out in less than two hours! gitti’s success was built on very direct communication with the consumer and community-building on social media.
At Xange, we are more than happy to lead this round and be part of gitti’s board. We’ll bring Jennifer and her team our expertise in building D2C brands — see also Bergamotte’s successful acquisition lastweek — and online business — see Mister Spex’s IPO last month — as well as our knowledge of the French market — a strategic country in the beauty industry.
Moreover, we share gitti’s vision for building a better conscious beauty industry, not only for a high-end elite, but for the largest market (what we call the 99%), thanks to accessible products in terms of pricing and brand identity. Clean beauty should not be a luxury, and polish is just the beginning of gitti’s journey. Welcome to the Xange’s family!
