Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode launches summer tour in Newport

• Hailey Rhode Bieber’s beauty brand began its summer station tour in Newport on June 11.
• The pop-up will run until June 14 and offers fans the chance to buy makeup and Rhode Island-exclusive merchandise.
• People flocked to the pop-up with some waiting over 12 hours in line.

NEWPORT – Some people lie splayed out on top of a pile of blankets at Bowen’s Wharf. Others sit in lawn chairs, fanning themselves in the Friday morning heat.

Employees in white shirts walk down the long line of people handing out water, sunscreen, fans and umbrellas.

A passerby walks past the large booth shaped as a lowercase r and wonders aloud, “What is going on here?”

The well-known beauty brand Rhode, founded by Hailey Rhode Bieber, kicked off its international summer station tour with a pop-up in Newport from June 11 to June 14.

Fans began lining up at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night, June 11, to have a chance of walking away with items from the brand’s summer collection and an exclusive Rhode Island sweatshirt on Friday.

Brandon Lodge and Sam O’Malley, who were first in line on Thursday night, had been awake for almost 36 hours by the time the pop-up opened at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Abby Tenreiro tried to get Rhode merchandise during the day on Thursday, but she got in line too late, and the pop-up had sold out before she could get to the front of the line.

“We had to reformulate our plan,” Tenreiro said.

Dedicated to getting some of Rhode’s bronzers, Tenreiro got back in line at 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning for the next sale.

Anna Kelly and Mya Amaral stood at the end of the line, as they queued up after the pop-up had already opened for the day. Being from South Kingstown, they decided to check out the pop-up, due to its close proximity to where they live.

Kelly was originally surprised when she found out that Rhode’s summer station would be starting in Rhode Island.

“Last time I think they did one in New York City, so I thought it was going to be somewhere more like Boston,” said Amaral.

Tenreiro also said she was happy to not have to drive all the way to New York for such a viral event.

In addition to pointing out the irony of Rhode popping up in Rhode Island, Amaral said she’s noticed Newport becoming more popular recently.

“More young people are discovering it,” said Amaral.

From home-grown viral cafés such as The Nitro Bar, which got its start in Providence and Newport by Rhode Island natives, to viral brands such as Brandy Melville coming to Newport, residents are in easy reach of these places making the rounds on TikTok.

Rhode nodded to Newport’s viral fame by providing those waiting in line with goodies, such as coffee from The Nitro Bar and cinnamon buns from Co-Dough.