Hailey Bieber is building on Rhode’s success.
The beauty founder is deepening the brand’s long-standing commitment to women with a $5 million, three-year partnership with the Foundation for Women’s Health, marking Rhode’s largest philanthropic investment to date.
“I could have never predicted where we were going to be today, even a year ago,” Bieber told WWD in an exclusive interview. “Rhode has completely exceeded everything that I had ever hoped that it was going to be.”
Rhode’s performance has also reportedly surpassed the expectations of parent company E.l.f. Beauty, which acquired Rhode in 2025 in a deal valued at up to $1 billion. In May, E.l.f. reported that Rhode had generated more than $500 million in annualized global retail sales and approximately $390 million in net sales, up more than 80 percent year-over-year, in fiscal 2026.
Now, Bieber is channeling that momentum into women’s health research, a cause she says is deeply personal, shaped by her own experiences and the health challenges faced by women close to her.
“I feel really drawn to women’s health,” she said. “I have a sister who struggles with PMOS. I have lots of friends that struggle with it, with endometriosis, with a lot of different, very specific women’s health issues. As a woman, I feel frustrated by the lack of research, the lack of awareness, the lack of certain conversation around it.”
Motherhood has broadened her perspective. Bieber welcomed her son, Jack Blues, in 2024.
“Especially after having my own child,” she went on. “That was just a really intense and special journey that I had. There’s so much that happens when you are pregnant, during childbirth. There’s so many things that happen leading up to having a child.”
Bieber said she experienced premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD.
“After I had my son, I struggled with that a bit, and there’s just not a lot of conversation or research around it,” she said.
“Conversation, for me personally, makes me feel less alone,” she added, of speaking publicly about these issues. “When we can identify with each other and have conversations relating to each other and talking about the things we’re dealing with and struggling with, I do think it makes it feel like less of a lonely journey.”
The commitment will support medical research, education and care in historically underfunded areas, including pregnancy and postpartum health and autoimmune conditions. Research institutions across the U.S. have submitted proposals, with grantees expected to be announced in 2027.
Of the $5 million, $1 million will establish the Foundation for Women’s Health Evergreen Fund, a venture philanthropy vehicle that will invest in companies developing women’s health diagnostics and therapeutics, reinvesting proceeds to support future research.
For the foundation’s founder and executive director, Katy Brodsky Falco, the partnership offers both financial resources and visibility.
“This $5 million gift to Foundation for Women’s Health messages very strongly to young women, who are the next generation of leaders, mothers, athletes, change makers, that the long-standing gender equity gap is not acceptable,” said Falco. “The visibility that Rhode brings is perhaps unparalleled.”
Falco noted the long-standing research gaps in conditions including endometriosis, maternal health and PMOS. She also believes the Evergreen Fund can help address a shortage of investment in women’s health innovation: “We want the research findings that we are supporting to be translated into therapeutics and diagnostics and brought to market quickly.”
The investment builds on Rhode Futures Fund’s existing work supporting women, particularly those from marginalized communities, across health, entrepreneurship, maternal support and emergency relief. Between 2025 and 2026, its Support for Moms Fund committed $2 million to 10 organizations providing income and resources to mothers and caregivers. Rhode also committed $1 million toward relief for families affected by the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
The philanthropic work continues under E.l.f. Beauty, alongside a collective commitment to giving 2 percent of net profits to meaningful causes. The acquisition has also expanded Bieber’s responsibilities, with the founder taking on a strategic advisory role at E.l.f. in addition to her work at Rhode.
“I didn’t go to school to learn this. This wasn’t my job before I created Rhode,” she said. “I really feel like being a founder is what I was supposed to be doing all along.”
Rhode has been deliberate about its retail rollout, launching at Sephora in the U.S. and Canada before expanding to the U.K.
“We’ve been really pacing it and spacing it out, and that’s something that’s important to me because I really want to do it well and do it right in each territory that we expand into,” Bieber said.
Looking ahead, international expansion remains a priority. Fresh off a trip to South Korea, Bieber sees potential for Rhode in the region.
“We’re not in Asia yet. That’s somewhere that is really exciting to me, given how skin care and beauty centric Asia is,” she said.
During her visit, Bieber also made time for skin care treatments. Her latest Korean beauty obsession? Pyderin’s Hydrovuster PDRN SOS Hyal Soothing Mask, a blue sheet mask she discovered at a facial clinic and later shared on social media, prompting online buzz.
“I went to do a facial treatment and they put it on me at the facial clinic, and I was like, ‘How do I order a box of literally 20 million of these?'” she smiled. “They really have it figured out over there, I gotta say.”
She continued, “I love skin treatments. I do PRP, micro needling, all of the things. But having a really good skin care routine, I do think, is also the base of keeping that structure and keeping your skin really supported and really healthy.”
On the product front, Bieber is exploring what she calls “smart aging.” With her 30th birthday approaching in November and her own skin care needs evolving, Rhode is preparing to launch a more targeted serum in January.
“I hate saying anti aging because I’m like, we’re all aging, so let’s not be anti about it,” she said. “Let’s just support ourselves and support our skin.”
Her longer-term ambition is clear.
“I really want Rhode to be completely global. I want it to be everywhere,” Bieber said, adding that South America is on her mind and Brazil, her mother’s home country, would be particularly meaningful. “In five years from now, I definitely want to see Rhode thriving in a global way.”
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