Billionaire cosmetics mogul and social media star Kylie Jenner is making moves to expand her empire.
Nine days after Instagramming a birthday message to her partner, rapper Travis Scott (“Let’s”f*ck around and have another baby”), the 21-year-old took steps to augment her entrepreneurial family by applying for 18 trademarks to create a baby retail brand.
Jenner signed and submitted applications to the United States Patent and Trademarks Office on May 9 to sell whatever a child might need, including clothing,breast pumps,strollers, and diapers under the names Kylie Baby and Kylie Baby by Kylie Jenner.
“Millennial consumers that are now entering the family rearing age want to discover new and exciting brands,” Marshal Cohen, the NPD Group’s chief industry adviser for retail, tells Coins2Day. “Not necessarily the ones they grew up on.”
But her business building didn’t stop there. The next day, she submitted 10 applications to trademark Kylie Hair and Kylie Hair by Kylie Jenner—a natural extension of Kylie Cosmetics, with an estimated value approaching $1 billion.
You can’t preorder a bassinet-full of Kylie-branded baby wipes just yet. According to trademark attorney Josh Gerben, “It will typically take three to four months before the government even picks these up and reviews these trademarks and then, assuming everything goes smoothly, it will be another six or seven months or so until the registrations are even ready to issue.”
At that point Jenner, who did not respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment, will have a year to prove she is using the trademarks for their intended products—although she can extend the registrations for up to three years after that if she doesn’t meet the deadline.
While Jenner is under no legal obligation to actually produce a baby or haircare brand—she’s merely obligated by law to have a “bona fide intention” to do so—Gerben said, “It looks very well planned out given how many applications were actually filed.”
By creating so many trademarks, Jenner will be able to pursue some endeavors while leaving others as “pending.” That way, she can create a clothing line, for example, without any obligations to simultaneously create a baby bath product line.
There are benefits to entering various sectors in the baby retail market. According to a January report by Grand View Research, global baby products (which include cosmetics, toiletries, baby food, and baby safety items) will experience a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% over the next six years, reaching $16.78 billion by 2025.
There’s also room for growth in children’s attire, particularly given the market gap left by Gymboree following its January bankruptcy.
While Cohen said the children’s apparel market has space for innovative brands, there is “even more opportunity for the tried and true when done well.”
“Just look at Target’s success with Cat and Jack—their own brand that is booming,” he said.
It’s hard to say what Jenner—a fashion influencer and Instagram-sensation extraordinaire—will pursue or produce, or where they will be sold, her clothing application covered:
“Bottoms [shorts and pants] as clothing; coats; dresses; footwear; headwear; jackets; jumpers; loungewear; rompers; scarves; shirts; sweaters; tops [shirts] as clothing; undergarments; socks; hosiery; swimwear; cloth bibs; gloves; sleepwear; one piece garment for infants and toddlers; costumes for use in children’s dress up play.”
In spite of the many unknowns, including price points, according to Gerben, “I think this is a very legitimate business plan at this point and that it’s very likely that you’re going to see a line of Kylie Baby products and services at some point in time.”