War Paint for Men opens on Carnaby Street

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 23, 2021

Carnaby Street is continuing to see a raft of interesting store openings and the latest is make-up brand War Paint for Men. It has opened at 29 Carnaby Street in a 499 sq ft space.

As well as retail products, the new location features an in-store barber via a link-up with The Lions Barber Collective. This also has a social good element to it as the non-profit collective comprises a group of top barbers focused on mental health issues. 

Other attractions for what claims to be the leading men’s make-up brand globally are a service that creates bespoke foundation or tinted moisturiser precisely for the customer’s skin tone in-store. There’s also an interactive digital Q&A with brand founder Danny Gray.

The brand, which makes tinted moisturisers, concealer, beard/brow gels and more, opened the store on Friday on the street that has seen landlord Shaftesbury announcing a raft of openings recently.

This one is particularly noteworthy as it’s claimed to be a world-first  in standalone men’s make-up retail.

Samantha Bain-Mollison, Retail Director at Shaftesbury, said: “We are delighted that War Paint has chosen Carnaby as the location of their first ever store. The brand's new and exciting concept is a great addition to the area. The personalised in-store experiences add to the store’s personality and exclusivity.”

The brand was founded to offer men more personal care choice and improve their confidence. Danny Gray said: “We started our company with a digital-first business model, which is hosted on the Shopify platform. Shopify has played a key role in helping War Paint access its target demographic, market itself and build a strong e-commerce offering. Our direct-to-consumer platform drives a majority of revenues. In year one we saw £380k in sales, with this figure doubling in our second year. Now we’re opening a bricks and mortar store, and our point of sale system is also powered Shopify and seamlessly links to our online business.” 

The brand is now sold in more than 80 countries and is available via retailers such as John Lewis, Harvey Nichols, Reiss, Mr Porter, Sephora, Loft in Japan and Arnotts in Ireland. It also has sports partnerships with Norwich City FC, and in Rugby League with Wigan Warriors.