After her starring role in Love Island USA season 6, reality television personality Leah Kateb, has officially joined the clean fragrance, Skylar as its new Chief Creative Officer and Re-founder. The announcement made on July 8, 2025, follows a period of rebranding for the company, and Kateb, a natural born leader, will be leading the company's next chapter.
Skylar launched in 2017 and was known for it's clean and hypoallergenic fragrance offerings. Kateb as the creative leader will help the fragrance company grow and establish its new direction and more expressive, refreshing brand that targets younger consumers.
Kateb and Skylar's alliance began in a rather unexpected way. Earlier this year, she shared a shower routine video on TikTok that featured Skylar's Vanilla Sky perfume, and the video blew up, garnering traction not only from fans, but also from the company itself. That one post initiated a conversation to bring Kateb onto the team in a leadership position.
Kateb isn't simply adding her name to the brand. She will also be contributing to the design of new fragrance collections, product packaging, and the development of Skylar's brand story. According to the company, her perspective will be key in shaping Skylar's creative direction moving forward.
Skylar Turns a New Leaf with Leadership Addition
Skylar's rebrand comes at a time when consumers are paying more attention to the products they use, particularly within the beauty and personal care space. With a shift towards clean and transparent products, Skylar hopes to differentiate itself by providing a safe, stylish, and relatable fragrance collection.
Among Kateb's tasks will include co-develop new scents, work on the brand's everyday essentials line (currently only a hand sanitizer), and help define what the next most notable look and feel for products going forward. She is also anticipated to deliver marketing strategies for digital campaigns designed to grow brand awareness.
Just recently, in an interview, Kateb commented she viewed her opportunity here as "serendipitous" and that she had been a fan of Skylar long before she was presented with an opportunity to partner with the brand. In fact, she said the fragrance described by Skylar made her feel "clean and confident" and that she wore the Just Peachy fragrance so often on Love Island that many of her co-stars repeatedly asked her what she was wearing.
Even with Skylar's honest affinity for the product is part of what made the collaboration authentic and it feels authentic to both parties. Again, this is not simply about a celebrity endorsement, but it is about bringing in someone who genuinely believes in the brand's values and ethos.
Skylar has the backing of Starco Brands, an investment firm whose past investments have been in innovative, consumer-driven brands. With Kateb at the helm, Skylar is looking to reach a larger audience while still offering clean ingredients and transparency in their products and offerings.
Kateb’s appointment is indicative of a larger shift in the beauty industry: social media influencers, and more recently reality stars, are joining the ranks of beauty executives and are increasingly able to affect change behind the scenes, as opposed to just in front of the lens.
Under Kateb’s direction, Skylar’s new product lines are poised to launch in the upcoming months with several surprises to follow as the brand completes its metamorphosis.
Source(Image / Thumbnail): wwd.com
