Donna Marcella Borghese
Princess Marcella Borghese was a real-life princess who founded a cosmetics line that bears her name.
History
Marcella Fazi was born in 1911 in Sicily, Italy and married Prince Paolo Borghese, of the Borghese family, establishing her as a princess. The family lived in Rome at the Villa Borghese, which is still open to tourists to this day. It was her love of fashion and toiletries that motivated her to hire a chemist to develop a lipstick and nail enamel to match a specific dress. From then on, she had most of her makeup and perfumes custom blended.
Charles H Revson
In 1956, businessman Gino Di Grandi approached Charles Revson and suggested he develop a line in conjunction with the Princess through a licensing agreement, to compete against Faberge's Juliette Marglen brand in department stores. This is believed to be the first "celebrity" beauty line. Charles Revson and the Princess became lifelong friends, and by 1963, Gino was included to 10% of the Princess' royalties from the line.
Borghese, as the line was known, developed into a fairly strong line- its main competition being (once Juliette Marglen disappeared) Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein and Geminesse, (by Max Factor). This was before Revson had developed his Ultima 2 line, and Revlon was looking to have a more upscale line for department stores. Borghese was sold across prestige department stores in the USA, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, and also in Asia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. A stipulation prevented Borghese from being sold in central Europe, including (ironically) her native Italy.
Post Charles Revson
Although successful, Borghese was no match for Estée Lauder or Clinique, and, after Charles Revson died in 1975, Revlon president Michael Bergerac pulled the Revlon brand from department stores, leaving Borghese to struggle without much clout. Revlon lumped Borghese into a new division called Halston-Borghese, formed through the acquisition of Halston fragrances from Playtex beauty, and remained in niche department stores through the 1980's and 1990's.
Post Revlon
Attempts to grow and develop the brand were not successful, and by 2002, Revlon sold the company to a Saudi Arabia business group. However, the Princess remained involved in the Borghese line until her death in 2002, at the age of 90. By 2004 the line was sold to Georgette Mosbacher, who had success with the La Prairie brand in the early 1990's. Her strategies to re-establish Borghese as a leader in the prestige category did not prove effective, and in 2006 Borghese began to appear in Costco. This greatly impacted Borghese's already weak department store presence in lower end stores like The Bon Ton.
Costco
In 2007, Borghese began to develop beauty products for Costco's private label, Kirkland Signature, at even lower prices. These products read : "Kirkland Signature by Borghese", and have had an increasing presence in Costco stores. It is speculated that Borghese will eventually function strictly as a Costco private label.