WCS x RuMU Beauty: Turning Product Into Presence

We delve into our partnership with RuMU Beauty, who helped us celebrate the LGBTQ+ community at WCS Awards 2025 through product sponsorship.

Overview

In June 2025, the WCS Queer Leaders Awards and Pride Gala celebrated changemakers who are reshaping the world through authenticity, courage, and connection. Behind the glamour and storytelling of the evening, one partnership stood out not only for its generosity, but for the deep alignment between brand mission and community impact.

RuMU Beauty, the non-binary skincare brand founded in Barcelona didn’t just sponsor our event. They infused it with soul.

Among the night’s honorees were Gerard Solé and Egon Crivillers, the visionary duo behind RuMU Beauty, who were awarded the title of Queer Leaders in Media & Creative Influence for their radical reimagination of skincare and their advocacy for identity-affirming beauty.

RuMU also played a pivotal role behind the scenes, partnering with We Create Space to deliver beautifully crafted gift bags for both the Awards and Pride Gala and the Awardees Dinner, offering not just products but a gesture of queer care.

This case study explores how our collaboration with RuMU transformed a product drop into a moment of visibility, community, and shared values.

Collaboration Objectives:

The RuMU x WCS Awards collaboration was rooted in shared recognition and purpose. Our goals were to:

• Celebrate RuMU Beauty and its founders, Gerard and Egon, as recipients of the 2025 WCS Award for Media & Creative Influence.

• Showcase RuMU’s philosophy of radically honest, genderless skincare to a global LGBTQIA+ audience

• Offer meaningful gifts that reflect the power of queer creativity, delivered through two curated product experiences.

• Uplift a small, independent queer-owned brand and demonstrate how intentional partnerships can amplify shared missions

"For me, queer leadership is about creating spaces of welcome in a world that rewards division. It’s about holding space for complexity, queerness, and joy. Being seen by WCS, an organisation that truly understands that, felt powerful and deeply aligned." - Gerard Solé, RuMU Beauty co-founder

Partnership Deliverables:

RuMU generously provided their entire full-size product line, tailored to each activation:

• Awardees Dinner Gift Bag: 55 x 2 full-size facial skincare products (core RuMU formulas) → Designed for a deeply personal, curated experience → Plus branded stickers, identity-affirming postcards, and their “how-to” skincare booklet

• Gala Goodie Bags for Guests: 150 x 2 full-size lip products in RuMU’s signature aesthetic → Plus branded stickers, identity-affirming postcards, and their “how-to” skincare booklet

All products were provided at no cost: an extraordinary gesture from a small independent brand led by creatives committed to community impact.

"Getting skincare from a queer-owned brand at a queer awards ceremony just made sense. It was a reminder that our community creates excellence in every space." - Cindy (she/her), WCS Community member

Audience & Impact:

Each event offered a unique touchpoint with our community:

• Awardees Dinner: An intimate evening gathering with global queer leaders, creatives, and advocates. The setting allowed for deeper brand engagement, meaningful conversations, and gifting rooted in shared values.

• Queer Leader Award Ceremony & Pride Gala: A large-scale celebration hosting 150+ guests, including press, cultural partners, influencers, and allies. RuMU’s presence in each gift bag created a lasting emotional and tactile memory for all attendees.

"We felt it was right [to provide full size products]. These weren’t “PR samples” for a campaign. They were gifts, from one queer story to another.." - Gerard Solé, RuMU Beauty co-founder

Opportunities for RuMU

This wasn’t just a product placement: it was a positioning moment. RuMU gained:

• Visibility and credibility among a highly engaged, international queer audience

• Association with a globally recognised queer and community-led platform

• Recognition as 2025 Queer Leaders in Media & Creative Influence

• Ongoing media potential, with inclusion in blog recaps, visual assets, and future digital storytelling by WCS

Key Challenges

• Managing logistics and deadlines across two different events and formats

• Balancing scale vs. capacity as a boutique brand offering full-size gifts

• Customising the brand experience for two very different types of guests without compromising integrity

"Community can be currency. Socially-aware initiatives can be loud, and showing up with integrity is priceless in today’s world." - Egon Crivillers, RuMU Beauty co-founder

Solutions & Success Factors

• Transparent communication and close coordination between RuMU and WCS teams

• Tailored packaging and messaging that made each audience feel seen

• Extended community offer: RuMU also launched a 7-day, 25% discount for the WCS community post-awards, extending impact beyond the event.

• Quick reactivity: RuMU moved fast, delivering everything on time and with care despite being a small team.

• Tailored experiences: Awardees received reflective skincare sets; gala guests got joyful lip products and playful extras.

• Full-circle alignment between RuMU’s mission (radically honest skincare with a queer soul) and WCS’s celebration of authentic queer leadership

"Opening my gift bag and finding RuMU products felt like more than a present, it was a nod to who I am." - Nicolas (he/him), WCS Community Member

Outcomes & ROI

• Strong emotional response from awardees and guests, many of whom expressed gratitude for the thoughtfulness and quality of RuMU’s products

• Organic amplification through attendee content, social sharing, and gift bag reveals

• Brand credibility boost through alignment with a reputable community-led platform

• Long-tail exposure via WCS email campaigns and upcoming blog articles featuring the partnership

"Every time I use it, it reminds me of that night and the people I celebrated with." - Cécile (they/them), WCS Queer Leader Awardee 2025

Key Learnings

• This partnership reminded us that impact is not about scale, but intention. 

• Authentic partnerships create ripple effects beyond the moment of exchange.

• For small queer-led brands, generosity can be a powerful form of storytelling.

• Dual-activation formats offer a meaningful way to speak to different audiences while holding onto brand identity.

  
  

At its core, this collaboration was a love letter to community care. RuMU didn’t just show up: they showed us what it means to build queer future, and it resonated deeply with what we celebrated this year, with our 5th anniversary! 

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