Estée Lauder Marks 80 Years With Innovation Push Behind Iconic Beauty Lines

The Estée Lauder Cos. is marking eight decades in business, a run built on a portfolio of products recognizable by name alone, including Double Wear, Black Honey, Advanced Night Repair and Fix+.

René Lammers, executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer, said product development at the company begins and ends with the consumer. He noted that while the principle sounds simple, it is easy for companies to lose sight of the customer.

That consumer-first approach dates to the company's origins, when Estée Lauder began developing products in her Manhattan kitchen in the 1940s. The first iteration of the namesake brand's Youth Dew Bath Oil emerged from those early efforts and remains an iconic product.

The business now operates research and manufacturing facilities in the United States, a shift from its founding-era kitchen experiments. The company is also forging new frontiers in beauty while reasserting its position in what the company describes as one of the most competitive markets in history.