Fragrance house

Kanebo

Kanebo traces its corporate lineage to 1887, when it was established in Tokyo as the Tokyo Cotton Trading Company, and it took the name Kanegafuchi Spinning in 1893. It entered cosmetics in 1936 with Savon de Soie, a silk soap that connected its textile heritage with cosmetics. In 1961, the cosmetics business returned from Kanegafuchi Chemical to Kanebo, beginning full-scale expansion and overseas development in Hong Kong. The cosmetics division separated from Kanebo, Ltd. in 2004, and Kao made Kanebo Cosmetics a subsidiary on January 31, 2006. In 2020, the KANEBO prestige brand was rebranded around “I HOPE,” with a stated focus on hope and individual uniqueness. From 2021, Kao’s cosmetics business operated under the Kao Beauty Brands framework, whose stated purpose was “Celebration of Individuality.”