POLA Orbis launched two prestige beauty brands in 2018 — wound them up in four years

In September 2018, POLA Orbis Holdings launched two prestige beauty brands through its subsidiary ACRO: Amplitude, a high-end makeup line, and ITRIM, a luxury skincare range. Both were developed for Japan's department-store channel, targeting the top tier of the domestic beauty market.

On 6 March 2023, an extraordinary ACRO board meeting resolved to discontinue both brands. POLA Orbis said the business environment had become harsh and performance had fallen short of plans. The group expected to record an extraordinary loss of approximately ¥800 million for the discontinuation.

The decision was part of a broader portfolio restructuring. POLA Orbis concentrated resources on its core brands — POLA, Orbis and THREE — rather than sustaining two sub-scale prestige lines in a channel that was itself under pressure from e-commerce and inbound-tourism shifts.

POLA Orbis closed both brands in 2023, booking a ¥800 million extraordinary loss, after they failed to reach scale in a channel losing ground to e-commerce.

The department-store channel that both brands depended on was shrinking as Japanese consumers shifted to e-commerce and direct-to-consumer channels

Two new prestige brands launched simultaneously split the investment and management attention that either one would have needed to establish itself

POLA Orbis's core brands (POLA, Orbis) already occupied the premium and mid-range segments, leaving unclear what white space Amplitude and ITRIM were filling

The ¥800 million write-off indicates the brands never approached the scale needed to justify their operating costs

Launching into a channel that is already contracting does not become safer because the parent company is large — the write-off is the bill for the assumption that prestige retail would hold.

POLA Orbis folded the discontinuation into its 2024–2026 mid-term plan as a portfolio-restructuring cost. The group refocused on POLA, Orbis and THREE, and expanded its overseas presence. The Amplitude and ITRIM brand names were retired.