Maude
Éva Goicochea wanted a sexual-wellness brand clean and unembarrassing enough to sell at Sephora. She built Maude and did exactly that, helping create a prestige sexual-wellness category from scratch.
Éva Goicochea wanted to build the sexual-wellness brand that didn’t exist, clean, inclusive, and so unembarrassing you could buy it at Sephora. In 2018 she launched Maude, and a few years later she did exactly that, putting vibrators on the shelves of a mainstream beauty retailer and helping create a prestige sexual-wellness category where there hadn’t been one.
Goicochea came from healthcare policy and brand strategy, not adult products, and she treated intimacy as ordinary self-care rather than something taboo, minimalist design, body-safe formulas, gender-neutral everything. She raised millions, brought on Dakota Johnson as an investor and co-creative director, and normalized a category the mainstream had always kept behind the curtain.
At a glance:
| Founded | April 2018, by Éva Goicochea |
| Founder background | Healthcare legislation and brand strategy |
| Category | Modern, inclusive, prestige sexual wellness |
| Milestone | Brought vibrators to Sephora |
| Notable backer | Dakota Johnson, investor and co-creative director |
| Model | DTC, Sephora, and Amazon |
The Story
A category stuck in the past
When Goicochea looked at sexual wellness, she saw a category frozen in a tacky, gendered, faintly shameful past, products sold in blacked-out packaging and back corners, designed as if buying them should embarrass you. There was no modern, inclusive, well-designed option that treated intimacy as a normal part of a healthy life. That absence was the opportunity.
A policy wonk builds a wellness brand
Goicochea didn’t come from the adult industry. She’d worked in healthcare legislation and in brand strategy, and she approached sexual wellness the way she’d approach public health: as something to normalize through clear information and good design, not something to snicker at. That outsider’s framing is exactly what let her see the category differently.
Minimalist, inclusive, body-safe
Maude launched in April 2018 with a deliberately restrained aesthetic, clean, simple, gender-neutral, and body-safe formulas, positioning intimacy as everyday self-care. The design did the destigmatizing: products that looked like they belonged on a nightstand or a bathroom shelf, not hidden in a drawer, made the whole category feel approachable.
Vibrators at Sephora
The milestone that defined Maude was placement. By partnering with Sephora, Goicochea put vibrators and intimate products in one of the most mainstream beauty retailers in the world, an act that legitimized an entire category. She also raised millions and brought on actress Dakota Johnson not just as a face but as an investor and co-creative director, giving the brand both capital and cultural weight.
The Strategy
Reframe intimacy as everyday wellness
Maude’s core move was positioning. By treating sexual wellness as ordinary self-care, on par with skincare or supplements, it sidestepped the shame the category was built on and made itself something a customer could feel comfortable buying. Reframing a taboo product as normal wellness is what opened it to a mainstream audience.
Design and inclusivity as the differentiator
In a category of garish, gendered products, Maude’s minimalist, inclusive design was the wedge. Clean, gender-neutral packaging signaled that this was a modern brand for everyone, and it made the products feel premium enough to justify prestige pricing and prestige shelves.
Distribution as the statement
Getting into Sephora wasn’t just a sales channel, it was the message. Being sold alongside mainstream beauty told customers that intimate wellness belonged in the open, and it helped establish the prestige sexual-wellness category that Maude now leads.
The Marketing
The placement is the marketing
Maude’s most powerful marketing was where it showed up. Vibrators at Sephora did more to normalize the category than any campaign could, because the placement itself made a statement about what’s acceptable. Meeting customers in mainstream, trusted spaces is how Maude challenged the taboo without lecturing.
A celebrity who actually builds
Dakota Johnson came on as an investor and co-creative director, not a paid spokesperson. A famous partner who genuinely shapes the brand brings credibility and cultural reach that a hired face never could, and it signaled that Maude was serious about changing the conversation, not just selling products.
The Numbers
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Maude launches in April |
| Ongoing | Raises millions; Dakota Johnson joins as investor and co-creative director |
| ~2022 | Partners with Sephora, bringing intimate care to mainstream beauty retail |
| Ongoing | Expands across DTC, Sephora, and Amazon |
Maude is privately held and doesn’t disclose revenue, but it’s widely credited with helping create the prestige sexual-wellness category. Its influence is measured less in a single number than in the fact that a mainstream beauty giant now stocks products the industry once kept hidden.
What You Can Learn
Reframe a taboo as normal. Maude treated intimacy as everyday wellness and unlocked a mainstream audience. When a category is held back by shame, positioning it as ordinary and healthy can open a market everyone else assumed was closed.
Design can destigmatize. Clean, inclusive, gender-neutral packaging made intimate products feel approachable and premium. How something looks changes how people feel about buying it, and good design can carry a brand into rooms its category was locked out of.
Distribution can be the message. Getting into Sephora wasn’t only sales, it was legitimacy. Where you sell can say as much about your brand as what you sell.
A celebrity partner should build, not just pose. Dakota Johnson’s role as co-creative director gave Maude real credibility. A famous name who genuinely shapes the product is worth far more than one who simply appears in the ad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded Maude?
Éva Goicochea founded Maude in April 2018. She previously worked in healthcare legislation and brand strategy before building the modern sexual-wellness company.
What is Maude known for?
Maude is known for modern, inclusive, body-safe sexual-wellness products with minimalist design, and for helping create a prestige sexual-wellness category by bringing intimate products, including vibrators, to Sephora.
Is Dakota Johnson involved with Maude?
Yes. Actress Dakota Johnson is an investor in Maude and serves as its co-creative director, a hands-on role shaping the brand rather than a paid spokesperson.
Where is Maude sold?
Maude is sold through its own website, at Sephora, and on Amazon, part of its strategy of meeting customers in mainstream, trusted retail spaces.
Sources
- PR Newswire, “Sexual wellness brand maude partners with Sephora”. April 2018 founding, founder background, Sephora partnership.
- Elle, “How Éva Goicochea Brought Vibrators to Sephora, Raised Millions”. Funding, Dakota Johnson’s role, and the founder’s career.
- BeautyMatter, “Maude Pioneering Prestige Sexual Wellness”. Establishing the prestige sexual-wellness category with Sephora and Amazon.
- The Zoe Report, “This Dakota Johnson-Approved Wellness Brand Just Partnered With Sephora”. Brand growth and the Sephora launch.