After 12 years of bold colors, vegan products, and cruelty-free beauty innovation, Kat Von D announced that she’s stepping down from her eponymous beauty line. The queen of vegan makeup sold her stakes in the company and the cosmetics line will be rebranding to reflect her departure from the makeup line. 

Kat Von D announced that she has sold all of her remaining shares in Kat Von D Beauty to partner Kendo.

The makeup line’s existing parent company will now take ownership completely now that Von D has formally resigned from her role. In a company press release, the brand stated that while Von D pursues her artistic endeavors, she will no longer be involved with the brand “in any capacity.”

Kat Von D announced she’s parting ways with her eponymous beauty brand after 12 years to allow the brand to continue to grow. 

The tattoo and makeup artist shared the news on Instagram, revealing that it wasn’t an easy decision. On top of being a new mom, launching a vegan shoe line, and preparing to release an album and tour in the spring, Von D admits she is no longer able to dedicate enough attention to the cosmetics brand. 

“This past year has been one of great change for me. As many of you know, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, launched my vegan shoe line, and am now busy prepping to release my long-awaited album in the Spring, followed by an international tour,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “As much as I wish I could balance all of this, on top of continuing my makeup line, it has become clear to me that I just can’t do everything at the maximum capacity.”

Kat Von D dedicated more than 2 years to her vegan shoe line.

Von D worked to create her own shoe collection, making careful decisions about everything from a price point ranging from $90 to $350 to where, exactly, the pieces would be made.

“I became vegan in 2013 and, to be honest, I thought it was just a dietary thing,” she told InStyle “Then I was looking at my shoe collection and everything was either made out of leather or snakeskin, or the adhesive used was derived from horses.”

The silver lining for fans of Kat Von D’s cult-favorite products is that they’re not going anywhere.

Kat Von D Beauty’s iconic products like the cult-favorite Ink Liner and Lock-It Foundation aren’t going anywhere. Under Kendo’s complete ownership, the brand’s current product lineup will still be available, and there will be future launches. All products will still be 100 percent vegan and cruelty-free. 

She continued  “…With that said, I’ve decided to sell my shares of the brand, turning it over to Kendo, my partners for the past 11 years. This was not an easy decision, but after careful consideration, I decided I wanted the makeup line to continue to thrive and grow, and I believe Kendo is primed to do just that.” 

As of Jan 16. Kat Von D Beauty is slowly rebranding as KVD Beauty. The announcement of the new name was made on the brand’s Instagram. 

“Today, our founder Kat Von D has parted ways with us, as she leaves to pursue other artistic endeavors (vegan shoe line and music). We wish her the best of luck and thank her for 12 years of partnership,” reads the post’s caption. “We are NOW renamed and re-branded KVD Vegan Beauty – and fully owned and operated by Kendo. The same team that created our iconic and beloved products for the past 12 years (and built the empire with Kat) is ready to make history again. We still value self-expression, compassion, and empowerment.” 

Von D launched her vegan cosmetic brand in 2008 with four red lipsticks.

Now, there are over 250 products in the collection, which are sold globally in 36 countries at Katvondbeauty.com, Sephora.com, and Sephora stores. Products like the Ink Liner and Everlasting Liquid Lipstick are both fan and industry favorites. 

With Von D out, KVD Vegan Beauty will continue to offer its existing product range, and will now release new innovations under Kendo.

“We are fully positioned to continue the brand’s growth and development in both product and marketing,” David Suliteanu, Kendo CEO says. “We have developed a very strong product pipeline for 2020 and beyond. The same Kendo team that made history with KVD Vegan Beauty is ready to do it again.” 

Von D added that during her tenure, she felt she was able to create a line that made outsiders feel like they had a “place in the beauty world.” She also expressed confidence in Kendo for carrying the KVD legacy.

READ: After Saying She Won’t Vaccinate Her Kid, Kat Von D Wants You To Know She’s Not An Anti-Vaxxer

Kat Von D has become a titan in the beauty industry due to her eponymous makeup line’s ultra long-wear highly pigmented products that also happen to be vegan and cruelty free. 

And although fans have long looked to the Queen of Ink because of her unconventional aesthetic and beauty expertise, the Von D recently announced she has decided to permanently step back from her successful business to focus on other projects as well as her new family.

On Thursday via Instagram, Kat Von D announced the unexpected news that she was selling her shares in Kat Von D Beauty in order to focus on other projects.

@thekatvonD/Instagram

In the lengthy statement, Von D explained that 2019 had been a year of “great change” due to the birth of her baby boy as well as her expansion into music. She went on to explain that, while she tried to balance all of her projects to the best of her ability, she wasn’t able to fully contribute to each of her projects at “maximum capacity.” Therefore, she would be officially stepping down from Kat Von D Beauty.

“I’ve decided to sell my shares of the brand, turning it over to Kendo, my partners for the past 11 years,” she said. “This was not an easy decision, but after careful consideration, I decided I wanted the makeup line to continue to thrive and grow, and I believe Kendo is primed to do just that.”

Von D went on to reveal that the beauty line would be re-branded as KvD Vegan Beauty in order to “avoid any confusion” for the brand’s customers.

@kvdveganbeauty/Instagram

Although the Sephora-based Kat Von D Beauty came out of the gate strong–even being named Sephora’s fastest-growing brand in 2018–the brand subsequently suffered from a highly-publicized dip in sales after Von D herself was embroiled in multiple controversies. Among the controversies was Von D declaring that she would not be vaccinating her child. Additionally, Von D had long been plagued by accusations of antisemitism throughout her career. 

The line will in all likelihood be in good hands with the LVMH beauty incubator Kendo, which also produces other popular brands like Fenty Beauty and Marc Jacobs. The former Kat Von D Beauty website has already been updated with the name change along with a statement from the CEO of Kendo. “I want to thank Kat for helping to change the beauty industry with us,” the statement reads. “We are fully positioned to continue the brand’s growth and development in both product and marketing…The same KENDO team that made history with KVD Vegan Beauty is ready to do it again.”

Since its inception, Von D has been extremely hands-on with her makeup line, involved in every aspect of the business from product inception to packaging.

@thekatvonD/Instagram 

“I name every shade, design every piece of packaging, help choose the colors and textures, the finishes and formulations,” she told HELLO! magazine in 2016. “There isn’t a font used on my packaging – I personally design and draw every letter on it. I even curate the content for our Instagram. I poured myself 100 per cent into this and I know that my customers appreciate that.”

And the tattoo artist and television personality obviously hit a chord with customers who felt connected to her through her products. In addition, Kat Von D’s products were truly high-quality at an affordable price-point. You could say that Von D was a trailblazer in the media personality-turned-businesswoman model that so many celebrities have since tried to replicate.

As for fans of Kat Von D, they took the news with a mixture of admiration, disappointment, and acceptance. 

Kat Von D has such a devoted fan base that many of them would follow her to the ends of the earth.

This person expressed undying devotion to Von D, no matter what she decides to do next:

Some Kat Von D supporters are ride-or-die.

This person thanked Kat for all she’s done for the beauty community.

Part of Kat Von D’s appeal is that she’s always marched to the beat of her own drum. For her, makeup was a means of artistic expression, not a means of blending in with everyone else.

This person shared a touching story about how Von D’s past generosity changed her life.

This kind of personal touch is hard to replicate once a brand becomes super corporate. 

This person was 100% supportive of Von D’s decision to step back.

It’s especially hard to juggle so many products as a new mom.

This person was just excited to hear Kat’s new album.

Not many people go from being a makeup mogul to being a rock-star. Talk about a pivot.