“Some of these companies are already reaching an interesting scale with sales in excess of $100 [million] and creating a brand name for themselves based on the quality of their dupes and their agility in execution (supply chain, DTC sales and marketing playbook),” she writes in an email to Beauty Independent. “The TAM [total addressable market] is also attractive…Finally, there’s a number of case studies in fashion and color cosmetics which would suggest these dupe models can have some longevity, especially as they naturally evolve into being more than just dupes.”

While dupe brands are often reviled by beauty entrepreneurs, PE’s growing fondness for them, not to mention Australian company DBG Group’s move last month to take complete control over MCoBeauty in a deal valued at $1 billion, piqued our interest, and we wondered whether the sentiment is widely held. So, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked 13 investors, investment bankers and others the following: What do you think of dupe brands for investment purposes? What do you see for the future of these brands?