Kiehl’s is returning to the locker room.
Wednesday, the brand is announcing its partnership with luxury athletic country club Life Time as its amenities partner. Kiehl’s products will be available at nine select Life Time locations throughout New York City later this summer with the potential to expand to additional locations going forward. This news follows Kiehl’s exit from Equinox last year, which caused controversy among gym members on social media.
“It’s a perfect match,” said Kiehl’s general manager John Reed of the Life Time partnership. “We often talk about the intersection between experience and efficacy is where Kiehl’s is trying to win. If you map that to the way that somebody feels after a great workout at a Life Time, it’s part of the ultimate experience. You need efficacious skin care. This is a person who’s trying to get the best out of their life, get the best out of their wellness.”
Ryan Brister, Life Time vice president, club operations, added: “This partnership reflects so much our commitment to delivering exceptional holistic wellness experiences. Part of our mission statement talks about experiences of uncompromising quality… It aligns with how we support our members’ healthy way of life.”
Specifically, the Life Time partner locations will carry Kiehl’s Amino Acid Shampoo, Hair Conditioner Formula 133, Bath and Shower Liquid Body Cleanser in Grapefruit and Creme de Corps.
Kiehl’s x Life Time
Courtesy
Following Kiehl’s exit from Equinox last year, many took to social media to complain about the change, particularly those in New York City. In planning this partnership, Brister and the Life Time team recognized how passionate New Yorkers were about the Kiehl’s brand, making it a perfect fit.
“It’s always been an amenity offering that has been on our radar,” Brister said. “We do expect overwhelming positive feedback from our members once they realize that Kiehl’s is coming in.”
In terms of re-entering the fitness space, Reed said it wasn’t a matter of if but when for Kiehl’s.
“It was always a perfect fit to have Kiehl’s in a premium fitness environment,” he said. “[Life Time has] a very naturally high overlap between urban, high-end fitness centers and people that are extremely passionate about Kiehl’s. Sometimes one leads to the other. Sometimes they discover at the fitness center and go on to become loyal consumers, or sometimes they’re loyal consumers first, and they have that as their first preferred brand for hair care and skin care at the gym. As soon as we made the decision with Equinox that we wouldn’t go forward, we started working on the new partnership.”
Reed emphasized how Life Time’s growth as a company and high-end approach to wellness particularly appealed to the company. Specifically, Life Time now has 180 locations across the U.S. and Canada, and its revenue was up 18 percent in the first quarter. The company calls itself an athletic country club, thanks to its array of offerings which can include fitness classes, personal training, pickleball courts, pools, saunas, the LifeCafe and more.
To inaugurate the news and notify Life Time members, there will be in-club digital screen announcements, newsletter blasts and content creator partnerships.
“[It] will be an inescapable announcement,” said Brister. “The world will know that Kiehl’s is at Life Time.”
Specifically, Kiehl’s and Life Time have teamed up with reality TV star Brittany Cartwright, who recently went through a divorce, on a multifaceted and cheeky campaign. Leading up to the announcement, Cartwright has teased via Instagram stories that she is in a new relationship through several gym pics. Pop culture and celebrity gossip accounts Deuxmoi and Comments by Celebs will further amplify the top secret relationship by posting paparazzi photos of Cartwright entering a Life Time with a mystery man. Cartwright will then officially announce the new relationship, aka the Kiehl’s and Life Time partnership, in a video on her feed. The breakup/new relationship concept is a nod to Kiehl’s exit from Equinox and now re-entry into Life Time.
“We’re going to basically create a whole content narrative… which is about moving on after a breakup,“ said Reed. “[Cartwright] had a breakup, and she’s going to play into that real-life personal experience. She’s going to talk about being in a new relationship and link it in with the new relationship that Kiehl’s has with Life Time. We’re trying to make it relatable and fun.“
While Kiehl’s will only be available in nine select locations around New York City to start, both partners emphasized that they intend to expand. Brister specifically said that they will look at the greater New York area and West Coast locations next, as well as opportunities to bring Kiehl’s into its spa locations.
“One of our operating models at Life Time, courtesy of our founder and chief executive officer Bahram Akradi, is think big, start small, move fast,“ said Brister of these plans.
