The his-and-hers shaving market has a new coupling with the launch of House of Atlas from the husband-and-wife team behind Athena Club, Maria and Charles Desmarais.
New York-based House of Atlas is turning to the playbook that’s worked for Athena Club, which launched as a direct-to-consumer brand in 2019 and has since expanded into Target and Walmart. In February, the brand launched with a razor kit, cartridge refills, shave cream formulated with shea butter and willow bark, and aloe vera-based aftershave on its website and at Target. Later, it added a shave gel mixed with almond oil and allantoin.
“In men’s personal care, there’s been a lack of innovation, a lack of prestige-feeling brands at accessible price points, and there was demand for it,” says Maria. “Funny enough, some of our female consumers on the Athena Club side were sharing their razors with their partners.”
With fragrance being a primary touchpoint for beauty and grooming shoppers, House of Atlas’ shave cream, shave gel and aftershave are infused with a signature scent featuring woody notes of leather, fig, vetiver and black tea. The brand has expanded upon its initial product range with two products only in direct-to-consumer distribution, a face lotion blended with ceramides and hyaluronic acid and a daily face wash containing glycerin, niacinamide and centella asiatica.
Based on a subscribe-and-save model, House of Atlas’s prices range from $8 for the shave gel to $19 for the blade refill of eight cartridges. A Nanuk case packed with razors, cartridges, shave gel, shave cream, aftershave and a founding member coin sells for $179. The most expensive item is a $9,999 Japanese sword forged from the same steel used to make the razor blades.
With a James Bond-meets-Western Americana aesthetic, House of Atlas’s debut comes at a time when the men’s grooming market “hasn’t been disrupted, really, in 10 years since the days of Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s,” says Charles. And those that are disrupting it are catching the eye of investors and acquirers. (See Dr. Squatch and Dude Wipes’ recent deals with Unilever and TSG Consumer, respectively.)
Polaris Market Research estimates the global market for razors is poised to grow steadily at a compound annual rate of 4.3% from 2024 to 2032. Sales are projected to reach $18.27 billion by 2032 from $13.04 billion over the eight-year span. Polaris identifies key players in the worldwide market as BIC, Bombay Shaving Company, Dollar Shave Club, Pearlshaving, PinkWoolf and Procter & Gamble.
Athena Club’s relationships with consumers, supply chain actors and retailers give House of Atlas an edge over other startups. Athena Club’s e-commerce site prominently displays “Shop Men’s” tabs linking directly to House of Atlas’ home page. Target was Athena Club’s inaugural retail partnership in 2023 and so it was with House of Atlas this year.
Crossover in research and development has resulted in formulations to prevent irritation and ingrown hair. All razors from Athena Club and House of Atlas feature five stainless-steel blades. Premium handles, which cost $2 more than the regular ones, can be stored on a magnetic hook.
“In men’s personal care, there’s been a lack of innovation.”
Athena Club Holdings has raised around $55 million in funding, and it’s financing House of Atlas. Investors include Tony Tjan, founder and managing partner of Cue Ball Capital, a venture capital firm with skincare and wellness brands such as Starface, HealthyBaby and True Botanicals in its portfolio.
“We’ve learned a lot both from our experience in direct-to-consumer and in retail,” says Maria. “In creating Atlas, we already have this open communication pathway with our customers and knowing what they want, and so that enabled us to quickly and efficiently create the products that we did, but also we have great relationships in terms of product manufacturing.”
House of Atlas made specific changes to meet men’s needs. For instance, the serum strip on its razor, which is lubricated with aloe, cocoa butter, vitamin E and shea butter, can be flipped back for shaving tight spots under the nose and around sideburns. “It’s nice to have direct access to trim and be able to see exactly to the millimeter what hairs you’re cutting,” explains Charles.
House of Atlas isn’t releasing sales figures. It expects year-over-year growth to be propelled by purchases of refill blades. Maria says the initial pickup has been strong in the southeastern states as well as in Texas and California. At Target, the demographic breakdown is “pretty equal” with a multi-generational appeal, she says. Charles adds, “Our premium handles have been selling really well at Target and our aftershave, surprisingly, is doing really well.”
When asked if it will tweak its business plan with Target in the wake of the big-box chain projecting a low single-digit decline in annual revenue, Charles says, “They’re a great, strong partner, and we’re excited to keep doubling down with Target.”
House of Atlas is eyeing more merchandise categories. “On the women’s side, we’ve had a lot of success in body care and deodorant and great kind of fragrance-led stories there as well as effective formulations with great packaging that stand out in aisle. We’d love to bring that to men,” says Charles. Besides, he continues, “People that have already experienced our fragrances in the shave cream and in the aftershave are already asking for more.”
The expansion would align with Global Market Insights’ forecast that the global market for men’s skincare will increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 4.9% to $31.7 billion in 2034 from $20.6 billion in 2025. GMI approximates that more than 57% of sales are made online. Plus, thanks to social media and influencers, male consumers are easily accessing information like product trends, reviews and recommendations.
Social media is pivotal to House of Atlas’ marketing. Its video titled “Coats for Cats,” which jokes about using beard hair to warm hairless felines, has gone viral. Now pinned to its TikTok page, the parody has tallied some 2.1 million views. Another video shows a guy shaving while wakesurfing. In line with the brand’s support of former United States Special Operations Forces via nonprofit Honor Foundation, it’s also lined up a stunt where a skydiver jumps out of a plane with a razor case.
“We’re very serious about products and formulations, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” says Maria. “Our customer wants to be entertained, and we can communicate the message of what the brand stands for differently.”
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