The Estée Lauder Companies appoints Karen Housman to key Asia Pacific travel retail role

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has named Karen Housman as Senior Vice President/General Manager Travel Retail Asia Pacific, effective 1 July.

Housman joined the ELC Travel Retail team in 2017. She is currently a member of the Travel Retail Leadership Team and was most recently La Mer and Le Labo Senior Vice President/General Manager Travel Retail Worldwide.

Housman will report directly to The Estée Lauder Companies President, Commercial Travel Retail Worldwide Javier Simon. She will be based in Singapore.

Karen Housman has a stellar track record in the beauty and travel retail sectors

Housman will oversee ELC’s strong brand portfolio, capture new regional opportunities and deliver best-in-class products and consumer experiences.

She will also leverage ELC’s strong retailer relationships and high brand awareness to drive growth and profitability in the key Asia Pacific region as travel returns.

During her most recent role, she helped La Mer reach fourth ranking in the skincare category globally.

She also launched niche fragrance brand Le Labo in key locations in Middle East, North America, Asia Pacific and UK travel retail. Thanks to her leadership, Le Labo is currently one of the fastest-growing brands in ELC’s travel retail portfolio.

Housman is a passionate supporter of sustainability, diversity and inclusion. She is a Sustainability Champion within ELC’s Travel Retail Division and has progressed several sustainable projects in the region.

She is on the Vital Voices Global Partnership’s New York City Council, where she helps invest in women leaders who are dedicated to finding solutions for gender inequality, gender-based violence, climate change and economic inequity.

Housman is a well-respected beauty industry veteran, and was previously Vice President of Marketing at Amorepacific US before joining ELC. In this role, she led the marketing and communication strategies for the Amorepacific, Sulwhasoo and Laneige brands. Before this, she spent 16 years in Chanel holding various management positions in the US and Asia Pacific.

The Estée Lauder Companies Global President Travel Retail Worldwide Israel Assa commented, “With over 20 years’ experience in the beauty industry in both travel retail and local markets, her deep knowledge of luxury skin care and fragrance, store design, sales, and marketing, along with her keen understanding of international business and of our key Asian consumers, Karen is uniquely positioned to lead Travel Retail’s APAC region to continued success,”

“Karen is a highly respected professional across the beauty industry with a track record of building innovative teams who continually set the bar for excellence,” added Simon. “In addition, with her strong retailer relationships and deep understanding of consumer behaviour, I look forward to seeing how she will steer the Travel Retail Asia Pacific region to capture the next generation of growth.”

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