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We’re marking two decades of MECCA beauty andit’s all thanks to you, our customer. Join us on a tripdown memory lane as we go back, way back, to thebeginning, when eyebrows were skinny andThe Rachel was the height of chic.
We’re marking two decadesof MECCA beauty and it’s allthanks to you, our customer.Join us on a trip downmemory lane as we go back,way back, to the beginning, when eyebrows were skinnyand The Rachel was theheight of chic.
An idea is hatched in the living room of Jo Horgan’s small terrace in Melbourne’s Albert Park. Her vision: to trek the global beauty path to discover emerging makeup brands, niche fragrances and cutting-edge skin care and bring them home for Australian women to enjoy.
Mecca Cosmetica opens its first store in Melbourne’s South Yarra with an expert edit of seven iconic global beauty brands. A modest space upstairs serves as office and warehouse.
After much frantic searching, Jo Horgan loses the first day’s takings. (She found the $1,873 eighteen months later, in an envelope, in a box, in a cupboard, behind the sink.)
The office moves into a converted hat and handbag warehouse. Furniture assembly—think IKEA desks and bookcases—becomes part of the job description and a rite of passage for the five staff members.
Mecca Cosmetica’s own signature line launches with a considered edit of products created by the beauty obsessed for the beauty aficionado.
New indie sibling Kit Cosmetics opens its doors on Oxford Street in Paddington, bringing with it under-the-radar beauty brands—including its own signature line, eventually expanding into select Myer stores.
We welcome MECCA’s first man to the team: Boston Consulting Group partner—and Jo’s husband—Peter Wetenhall.
Malin+Goetz hosts a birthday dinner party for us in their New York boutique and we publish a MECCA-made magazine in collaboration with Doingbird. Our brands—including Bumble and bumble, Comme des Garçons, NARS and Stila—join in the celebrations by creating exclusive limited-edition products in our honour.
Mecca Cosmetica Ponsonby is our first international store, soon to be followed by three store openings in Wellington, Christchurch and Newmarket over the next two years.
Mecca Cosmetica features in Paris Vogue as the ultimate global beauty destination, alongside Corso Como Milan, Barney’s New York, Liberty of London and LA’s Fred Segal. Beauty pilgrims make their way from around the world.
MECCA introduces a whole new beauty experience with the launch of Mecca Maxima in Melbourne Central showcasing a glam squad of over 3,000 products from 65 brands including cult favourites such as NARS and Smashbox and international bestsellers such as Bobbi Brown and YSL.
The MECCA Beauty Loop rewards program launches, gifting our much-loved customers with the products they want and the experiences they enjoy. It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’.
MECCA hits the runway in our hometown, signing on as the official makeup partner of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week.
In one of her career highlights, Jo Horgan addresses the international beauty community at the Women’s Wear Daily Beauty Forum and, wearing sky-high stilettos, takes a tumble on stage. (Don’t worry, she was OK. And for the record, she wears flats when performing public speaking duties these days.)
MECCA begins a beautiful friendship with the National Gallery of Victoria going on to sponsor its summer blockbuster exhibitions over the coming years including Jean Paul Gaultier and Andy Warhol | Ai Wei Wei.
Six weeks before Christmas, the entire Holiday season shipment of European fragrances and other beauty products is stolen en route to Lyon. Yes, that hurt.
Jo Horgan lands on the prestigious WWD Beauty Inc 50 Most Influential People in Global Beauty list, she’s the only Australian to feature.
Our website, mecca.com.au, launches housing over 7,000 products from over 100 brands.
Our first beauty-full Mecca Cosmetica flagship store opens on South Yarra’s Toorak Road with three new concepts: a dedicated perfumery, the first dedicated NARS Boutique, and MECCA Trove which shines a light on our favourite new beauty discoveries.
MECCA Brands makes it on BRW’s Best Places To Work list as one of the top five companies in Australia and the #1 company in Asia.
Mecca Maxima makes waves with the hotly anticipated launch of Urban Decay. Social media goes into overdrive and one Naked Palette sells every 4.86 seconds in the first hour of trade, leading to a total of 3,676 Naked Palettes sold on the day.
Jo Horgan is honoured as the winner of the Beauty category at the prestigious InStyle Women of Style Awards and makes WWD Beauty Inc’s 25 Most Innovative Beauty Executives list.
MECCA moves into the world of digital publishing, delivering ‘the inside word on beauty’ with the launch of our very own online editorial hub, The MECCA Memo.
Mecca Maxima joins Mecca Cosmetica in the Land of the Long White Cloud, opening it’s very first New Zealand store in Christchurch’s ANZ Centre. Over 300 eager Beauty Junkies lined up to be the first customers in the store on opening day.
MECCA Brands’ newest retail concept arrives with the opening of MECCA in Myer. Replacing the Kit concept, it brings together the best of Cosmetica and Maxima in a world-class space within the department store.
We partner with some of Australia’s leading organisations including National Gallery of Victoria, Foundation For Young Australians and Engineers Without Borders for the inaugural MECCA M-Power program. This unique 12-month program is designed to empower extraordinary women and girls to realise their potential.
As our Support Centre team continues to grow, we expand across the road with the addition of a second big and beauty-full two-storey office space.
The next generation of Maxima stores opens in Canberra, our most immersive space yet with our first ever “Get The Look” station.
Enter MECCA MAX. Mecca Maxima’s own signature line launches with a head-turning array of high-impact pigments and selfie-ready essentials for the #MECCABeautyJunkie in all of us.
Two decades later and it’s all thanks to our customers. To celebrate, some of our most-loved brands including Too Faced, Stila, NARS, Smashbox and Frank Body create limited-edition MECCA20 exclusive products.
