Hilary Duff is now part of the Bath & Body Works family.
The pop star, who is touring for the first time in nearly two decades, is the brand ambassador and creative partner on the retailer’s new franchise, Fruit Fusion.
Fruit Fusion features four scents: Watermelon Whirl, Tangerine Twirl, Berry Bliss and Banana Blend. Products include body wash, body cream, perfume mist for body and hair, lip oil and hand sanitizer. The line’s formulas are vegan and made without sulfates, parabens and phthalates.
The line launched on Monday online and in stores across the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available on the company’s Amazon storefront, making it the first major project debut on the platform since the retailer’s entry onto the e-commerce site earlier this year.
Fruit Fusion is designed to be a long-term effort, with new scents and formats released over time.
“Hilary is the perfect fit for this new franchise,” Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, chief brand and product officer at Bath & Body Works, said in comments to Retail Dive. “She's confident, fun and beloved, and she embodies what we stand for: joy, authenticity, and showing up as your best self.”
Duff will be at the center of a marketing campaign that the company calls “one of the most comprehensive in the brand’s history.” It will hit on YouTube, connected TV, social media, in stores and in placements across major markets, including select placements near Duff’s concert venues. The pop star will also highlight the collection on her Instagram and TikTok platforms.
The push behind the new assortment is a strategic move within the company’s Consumer First Formula, a plan introduced at the end of 2025 designed to drive sustainable, long-term growth. The effort is also positioning the company to transform from a specialty retailer into a “premier global brand,” CEO Daniel Heaf said earlier this year.
“Fruit Fusion is our Consumer First Formula in action,” Gabai-Pinsky said.
A collaboration with Duff is a big move, and shows the retailers is "willing to take bolder, more modern steps to improve customer acquisition trends," according to Wells Fargo analysts led by Ike Boruchow.
The update shows “the business is leaning into capitalizing on social media trends (which has worked well for other brands recently), particularly on the nostalgia for 90s and early 2000s culture — for which Duff is strong example of, with her ongoing (and selling-out) world tour,” the analysts wrote in a June 30 note.
Bath & Body Works also recently announced that it is launching in over 600 Ulta Beauty stores starting in July, as part of a larger goal of making it easy for new consumers to access the brand.
In its latest earnings the company reported that net sales were down 3% year over year to $1.4 billion. Net income was up over 74% to $183 million in Q1. Heaf at the time said the retailer is in the “early stages” of its transformation.
The Consumer First Formula is comprised of four pillars, including returning to product leadership in its core categories of body care, home fragrance, soaps and sanitizers; reigniting the brand by investing in marketing; expanding the road to discovery through third-party channels; and delivering $250 million in cost savings over the next two years.
