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When a Beauty Business Buys a Fashion Brand, It’s Rarely About the Clothes

Estée Lauder Companies is reportedly in talks to buy Tom Ford at a $3 billion valuation. But does it make sense for a beauty conglomerate to get into the fashion game?
A model walks the runway at Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2022 show in New York. She wears a blue shirt with a hot pink jacket and cropped trousers with matching pink heels.
A model walks the runway at Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2022 show in New York. (Getty Images)

When news spread in July that Goldman Sachs

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