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MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is an American cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City, MAC is an acronym for Make-Up Art Cosmetics.

The company’s products were intended for makeup professionals, but are sold directly to consumers worldwide. Frank Toskan stated that he “first manufactured makeup for models, but then the models wanted this makeup for their sisters, friends, and so on… “.In the 1990s, the brand had more than one hundred stores worldwide, earning 200 million francs. The development of the brand internationally, the opening of new points of sale, and the adaptation of product lines tailored to each continent, left little time for the founders to create new products.

In 1994, the Estée Lauder Companies took control of 51% of the shares of MAC Cosmetics and began managing the business end while the two founders retained creative control. In 1997, co-founder Frank Angelo died of cardiac arrest during surgery at the age of 49. MAC Cosmetics is named one of the top three global makeup brands, with an annual turnover of over $1 billion, and 500 independent stores, with over thirty stores in France. All stores are run by professional makeup artists.

MAC is an official makeup brand that creates makeup for movie actors. The most popular products by the brand are Studio Fix Fluid and Ruby Woo Lipstick. In September 2012, MAC Cosmetics launched in India firstly the “MAC Selena” collection in collaboration with the estate of Selena Quintanilla Perez. A petition on Change.org proposed the idea of this collaboration to MAC Cosmetics. Selena’s sister, Suzette Quintanilla, worked with MAC to create the perfect collection that represented Selena.

The collection sold out within hours not only at MAC stores, but also at other retailers that carried the collection such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Macy’s. Fans stood in line for hours to get their hands on the collection while some walked away empty-handed. Due to the high demand for this collection, MAC restocked the collection in December 2016. Her posthumous collaboration with MAC Cosmetics became the best-selling celebrity collection in cosmetics history. In May 2017, MAC Cosmetics became available for purchase online at Ulta Beauty.

Products became available in stores in June 2017. On August 24, 2017, MAC Cosmetics announced that a collection involved with the estate of late singer Aaliyah would be made available in the summer of 2018. The Official release date for the “MAC Aaliyah” collection was made available on June 20 online and on June 21 in stores. Along with the MAC collection, MAC and i-D Magazine had partnered up to release a short film titled “A-Z of Aaliyah” which coincided with the launch. In May 2018, Sephora Canada announced it will carry MAC Cosmetics online.

In March 2022, MAC Cosmetics released its new spring Wild Cherry Collection and launched it for Japanese consumers.

 

 

Photo by Peter Kalonji on Unsplash