Rhode, the skincare brand founded by Hailey Bieber and acquired by E.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion in May 2025, launched in Australia and New Zealand on February 12 through an exclusive retail partnership with Australian beauty retailer Mecca. The rollout drew more than one million visitors across Mecca’s 110 stores during the opening weekend, making it the retailer’s biggest launch in history, according to Vogue Business. Within days, the event also sparked a wave of criticism across social media, focused primarily on creator diversity and influencer PR practices.

Launch Mechanics and Scale

Rhode’s Australia rollout followed the brand’s established expansion playbook: a surprise in-person appearance by Bieber at Sydney Mecca stores and a bakery pop-up serving local treats, including lamingtons, alongside branded coffee cups and pastry boxes. Customers at the pop-up received stamp cards redeemable for Rhode samples at select Mecca locations. Bieber also attended the Sydney premiere of “Wuthering Heights” during the launch window.

“Australia made a lot of sense as our next market, because we knew and saw that there was so much demand for the brand there,” Bieber told Vogue Business. “Mecca was a no-brainer partner – it’s the number one beauty destination in Australia, and it has its own incredibly loyal fan base.”

The launch marked the first time Rhode simultaneously offered both direct-to-consumer online sales and physical retail access in a new market. During E.l.f. Beauty’s Q3 results in February, the company confirmed Rhode as its fastest-growing brand, projecting net sales of $260 million to $265 million for fiscal 2026, up from an earlier expectation of $200 million.

Diversity Criticism Surfaces Online

As launch photos and videos circulated on TikTok and Instagram, a separate conversation emerged around the visible makeup of those featured at key events. Critics in a Reddit thread, where the topic garnered 8,600 upvotes and 1,400 comments within two days, alleged that the invitee and event photos were overwhelmingly white and did not reflect Sydney’s demographic composition.

Brenda Chuinkam, fashion and lifestyle blogger and the creator behind “Theankaraqueen,” reported that “some shoppers and creators are calling out an observation they say they cannot ignore: the faces being highlighted at parts of the Sydney launch looked far less diverse than the city itself.”

A central argument among critics was that brand event invitations carry tangible professional value. “Being invited can lead to paid partnerships, more followers, and long-term relationships with retailers and PR teams,” Chuinkam noted. “Critics argued that if a brand talks about ‘community,’ then that community should look like the customers who actually shop there.”

One Reddit commenter with industry experience wrote: “For having worked in the beauty industry and with a lot of partners in Australia, for brand PR events with Sephora/Mecca etc… the beauty influence circle in Australia is unapologetically predominantly white, despite the current society being way more diverse. Not a shocker.”

At the time of Chuinkam’s reporting, neither Rhode nor Mecca had publicly addressed the diversity criticism.

Mecca’s Role and Shared Accountability

Because Mecca served as the exclusive retail host and co-organizer of the launch, much of the public criticism directed toward creator outreach also landed on the retailer. 

Chuinkam noted a structural complexity: different parties (the brand, the retailer, and separate PR agencies) may control different elements of an activation, including staffing, VIP invitations, and creator seeding lists.

Jo Horgan, founder and co-CEO of Mecca, described Rhode as “one of the most culturally relevant beauty brands in the world right now” and told Vogue Business that the brand had been “one of the most requested brands by our customers since its launch.”

‘Buy Aussie’ Sentiment

A separate thread of criticism urged Australian consumers to bypass Rhode entirely in favor of domestic beauty brands. 

Some creators on TikTok positioned local alternatives as better suited to the Australian climate, more responsive to Australian regulators, and more directly beneficial to the domestic beauty ecosystem. Rhode’s partnership with Mecca drew criticism from this group as another example of a U.S. celebrity brand entering a crowded local market without deep roots in Australian communities.

Separately, Australia has been grappling with scrutiny over sunscreen testing standards following a recent Australian SPF scandal, in which multiple high-end products were found to underperform their labeled SPF claims, prompting recalls and regulatory action.

Rhode’s Expansion Trajectory

Despite the social media backlash, Bieber said she plans to continue expanding the brand internationally, with South America – particularly Brazil, in recognition of her own Brazilian heritage – identified as a future target market, though no timeline has been set.

“I would love to be everywhere eventually,” Bieber told Vogue Business. “We’re launching really strategically, one place at a time. And as a brand, we’re not really trying to push momentum. We’re expanding at a really comfortable pace.”

Rhode’s next planned product launches include pimple patches, already previewed publicly by Bieber and her husband, Justin Bieber, on Instagram, and the continued development of skincare wearables, including under-eye patches.

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