KIKO Milano

KIKO Milano is an Italian cosmetics brand founded in 1997 and known for a broad makeup range sold at accessible prices through its own chain of stores. Originally launched as Kiko Make Up Milano [7], it has grown into what it describes as Italy's leading makeup brand, with a presence spanning dozens of countries and a retail network of more than 1,100 stores. In April 2024 the private-equity firm L Catterton acquired a majority stake from the founding Percassi family, who kept a minority holding [8]; the brand continues to operate under its own name.

The company was started by Antonio Percassi together with his son Stefano. Antonio Percassi is a former footballer who played for and later served as president of the club Atalanta before building a career as an entrepreneur [7]. His business interests extended well beyond cosmetics: his group has managed franchised retail operations in Italy for international names including Nike, Gucci and the Zara owner Inditex, the last through a partnership formed in 2001 [7]. KIKO grew out of that retail infrastructure, expanding from a single store into an international chain.

Sources differ on where the brand began. The official acquisition announcement, the trade publication BeautyMatter and Antonio Percassi's Wikipedia entry place the founding in Bergamo, Italy, where the Percassi family is based [8]; Marie Claire instead states it was founded in Milan [10]. The "Milano" in the name references an Italian design identity rather than a location — the company says its products are designed in Milan. The brand was first known as Kiko Make Up Milano, and in 2012 Antonio Percassi separately acquired the cosmetics brand Madina, which sits alongside KIKO under the family's wider business [7].

For most of its history KIKO was controlled by the Percassi family. That changed in April 2024, when L Catterton — a consumer-focused private-equity firm backed by LVMH — agreed to acquire a majority stake, with the family retaining a significant minority position [9]. The financial terms were not disclosed. At the time of the deal, the company reported 2023 net revenue of roughly 800 million euros and year-on-year growth of nearly 20 percent [8]. L Catterton framed the investment around accelerating the brand's global expansion, including a larger push into the United States.

KIKO Milano positions itself around the idea of self-expression, presenting itself as a brand that captures global trends and reinterprets them through an Italian style. Its tagline is "Art · Beauty · Joy", and the company says it believes "in the power of art, colour and craft to transform our customers' daily lives." Central to its positioning is price: the range is widely characterised as a drugstore or mass-market line, offering professional-quality products at low cost, with most makeup items priced under £20 according to Marie Claire [10]. The brand describes itself as offering one of the largest colour assortments in beauty, with a catalogue exceeding 1,200 products.

The line spans makeup, skincare, nails and accessories, with makeup at its core. Among the products the company highlights is the 3D Hydra Lipgloss, which it markets as its number-one gloss; other items that recur in editorial coverage include the Smart Fusion Lipstick, Flawless Fusion Powder Bronzer, Glow Fusion Intense Powder Highlighter and the Velvet Touch Creamy Blush Stick [10].

On formulation, the company says its products avoid ingredients such as parabens, sulphates, cyclic silicones, microbeads and GMOs, and states that around 99 percent of its products are made in Europe. It reports having conducted more than 20,000 clinical tests as of 2022. On animal testing, the brand states that its products are "fully clinically tested, but never on animals," and frames this within compliance with the EU cosmetics regulation that prohibits animal testing across the bloc; it does not cite third-party cruelty-free certifications.

KIKO drew notice from professional makeup artists relatively early. A 2016 piece originally published by New York Magazine's The Cut described it as an Italian drugstore brand favoured by industry professionals, quoting artists including Nick Barose, who called it "a beautiful beauty brand that has a wide range of innovative products that perform well and give great results at really good price points," and Tom Pecheux, who cited its exfoliator wipes as part of his routine [11]. More recently the brand became a notable presence on social media: by one account the #kikomilano hashtag on TikTok grew from around 300 million views to 1.4 billion over the course of 2023, helping it reach younger, Gen Z audiences [12].

KIKO Milano remains commercially active. Since April 2024 it has been majority-owned by L Catterton, with the Percassi family holding a minority stake. The company continues to launch products and run campaigns, and maintains a quarterly investor calendar extending into 2026. Its classification here as "acquired" reflects that change in ownership rather than any pause in operations. Figures for its geographic reach vary across sources: reporting around the acquisition cited 66 countries [8], while the brand's own investor page lists 68 [5], a count that has grown over time.