A Publication of WWD

Family MattersMichaeline DeJoria learned the lesson of taking care of people early on from her father,

John Paul Mitchell Systems founder John Paul DeJoria. It’s one that has stood her in good stead as she helps guide the company through times of crisis. For more,

see pages 10 and 11. PLUS, how mass retailers can better serve Black beauty shoppers. PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE SCHMELZER

ISSUE #16JUNE 19, 2020

Beauty Bulletin

Tk Caption

Ult

a p

ho

tog

rap

h b

y S

hu

tte

rsto

ck /

Ke

n W

olt

er;

Se

ph

ora

by

cou

rte

sy o

f B

ea

uty

cou

nte

r

2

JUNE 19, 2020

THE BUZZ

Loewe opens their first New York City store on

79 Greene street.

DOUGLAS CEO RETURNS

¬ Premium German beauty retailer Douglas said Tuesday that its chief executive officer, Tina Müller, will resume her functions starting July 1.

On May 11, it announced that Müller was convalescing after emergency surgery, and that Vanessa Stützle, Douglas’ executive vice president of e-commerce and CRM, and Matthias Born, the group’s financial officer, were jointly handling Müller’s job on an interim basis.

Douglas also announced that it has appointed Michael Keppel to its management board as chief restructuring officer, a newly created position.

Keppel will be charged with developing a concept “for repositioning and future-proofing the Douglas store network within the framework of the #Forwardbeauty strategy against the backdrop of the changed market environment caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” Douglas said. — Jennifer Weil

¬ Beautycounter is beefing up its list of distributors with a pop-up at Sephora, starting in July.

The partnership entails a digital-first launch of 11 products,

including top sellers like the All Bright Vitamin C Serum and Overnight Resurfacing Peel, starting on July 7, and in-store availability in all Sephora doors

starting in August. The pop-up will last through the end of October.

For Sephora, the deal was a no-brainer, especially as Sephora’s client base shows an ascending interest in clean beauty, said Artemis Patrick, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Sephora.

“Beautycounter they're leaders in the space. Not just as it pertains to the product itself, but also how they work with legislation and health protective laws,” Patrick said. For example, Renfrew, recently testified in a congressional hearing on cosmetics reform.

“For us, limited-time partnerships seem to really feel most suitable for our business model in support of our community,” Renfrew said. —J.M.

¬ Ulta Beauty and Credo Beauty have teamed up.

The beauty retailers have entered a partnership in which brands carried by Credo will be sold at Ulta, beginning with a Credo endcap featuring eight brands that will roll out to 100 Ulta doors in the fall.

For Ulta, the move marks its first meaningful foray into clean beauty, a growing category the retailer has yet to enter in a significant way. For Credo, which operates nine boutiques in the U.S., selling products in one of the country’s biggest beauty retailers is an opportunity to scale.

Credo brands entering Ulta include Innersense Organic Beauty, One Love Organics and EleVen by Venus Williams x Credo.

“[Credo] is a trailblazer,”

said Monica Arnaudo, chief merchandising officer at Ulta. “This is a great partnership for both of us to elevate clean beauty efforts across the industry.”

“The original intention was to find neighborhoods where people are already living a healthy lifestyle, and the concept [of clean beauty] could be easily adopted,” added Annie Jackson, cofounder and chief operating officer at Credo. “The dream was not to keep it really selective, but to widen the reach.”“The timing is right because there’s so much awareness of clean beauty products and sustainable packaging,” Jackson said. “It’s more important now than ever given everything we’re experiencing as a planet.” —Ellen Thomas

Ulta Partners With Credo

Beautycounter Enters Sephora

Tina Müller

By The Numbers: Fragrance Gets A Holiday Boost Eye makeup continues to show resilience alongside fragrance and skin care. BY JAMES MANSO

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS for the hard-hit fragrance category—a sales bump thanks to Mother's Day and Father's Day, according to The NPD Group. In a week when prestige beauty was down 10 percent versus the week before (and 31 percent from the same week last year), despite store reopenings, fragrance sets saw the highest volume in sales. “Skin care and hair remain a focus for consumers for this latest week, with half of the top 10 segments falling into these categories,” said Larissa Jensen, vice president, beauty at The NPD Group. Other bright spots included skin care and eye makeup. Below, the top 10 gainers, by category and product, in prestige beauty in the U.S. market week-over-week, for the week ending on May 30.

1. fragrance Sets

2. skin care Body cream/lotion

3. fragrance Sets w/ ancillaries

4. hair Conditioner

5. skin care Facial devices

6. skin care Sets/kits

7. skin care Body in-sun

8. makeup Mascara

9. fragrance Perfume

10. makeup False eyelashes

Source: The NPD Group/

U.S. Prestige Beauty Total Measured Market

Giorgio Armani’s Sì Passione and Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum.

3

JUNE 19, 2020

NEWS FEED

MASS RETAILERS SAY they will

stop locking up beauty products

designed primarily for Black

consumers — but experts say this is

only the first step toward making

Black beauty shoppers feel valued.

Walmart, CVS and Walgreens all

said they will stop locking up beauty

products created for Black consumers

after images on Twitter showed entire

“multicultural” and “ethnic” beauty

aisles placed in locked cases. The

announcements come as retailers

are evaluating their diversity and

inclusion practices and policies in the

wake of a new civil rights movement,

sparked by the police killing of George

Floyd and the subsequent nationwide

protests against systemic racism and

police brutality against Black people.

The practice of locking up beauty

products made for Black consumers

has long sparked criticism, and even

lawsuits, from customers who view it as

discrimination veiled as loss prevention.

But a new era of corporate

accountability at the hands of

consumers may be under way.

“The customer has realized their

power in their purchase, their voice,”

said Desiree Reid, founder and

president of Desiree Reid & Co., an

industry advisory firm that specializes

in multicultural marketing. “If they

continue to make brands accountable,

brands will become accountable.”

“They should be embarrassed,”

added Reid, of mass retailers who

have announced a ban on locking up

products for Black consumers. “I’m

not going to applaud [the decision

to unlock products meant for Black

consumers]. I don’t feel it’s worth

applauding. [There’s] a lack of

empathy and a lack of respect for the

customer that drives these decisions.”

The practice of locking up beauty

products meant for Black consumers

has only added to feelings of

disenfranchisement, and has made

Black consumers, who overindex in

beauty and grooming, more likely

to turn away from shopping the

drugstore beauty aisle, a category that

for some U.S. drug chains in particular

has seen years of sales decline.

“Retailers are saying, ‘We don’t see

the numbers, women of color don’t

do this or they don’t buy that,” said

Reid. “But it’s all a cycle. You can’t

buy in an environment that’s not

engaging you to buy.”

Permanently removing Black beauty

products out from under lock and key

may only be the first step in making

Black beauty shoppers feel that they

are wanted as customers in a store

— let alone, acknowledging their

purchasing power. “It can’t just be that

L’Oréal and Revlon are given all the

space at the front of the store because

they’re the big brands, with brands

that serve customers of color out of the

way at the back of the store,” said Reid.

“There’s underlying biases presented at

the store level preventing the customer

from having a beauty experience.

She’s either bypassing it, or picking

something up and getting out.”

Hair products in the “ethnic” or

“multicultural” beauty aisle — or,

hair care generally designed for Black

consumers — are sometimes placed in

locked cases at drugstores and other

mass chains, often in neighborhoods

with a high volume of Black shoppers.

Walmart, which announced last

Wednesday that it is banning the

practice, said this takes place in

“about a dozen” of its 4,700 stores.

A source with close knowledge

of mass retailers told WWD that

decisions made to place products in

locked cases are often determined

by data designed to single out the

products that are most commonly

shoplifted at any given store location.

But others say the issue is far

more complex than that, and that

the practice of locking up beauty

products meant specifically for Black

consumers — while the rest of the

aisle remains untouched — is rooted

in inherent bias, and has resulted

only in alienating Black shoppers.

A corporate employee at a mass

retailer who spoke to WWD on the

condition of anonymity said the

decision to lock up products meant

for Black consumers is the result of

a flawed system that that ends up

discriminating against Black shoppers.

The process usually starts with store

managers, who are responsible for

reporting on what is being stolen, and

who is stealing. Reports often single out

products aimed at Black consumers, or

whole sections of the store frequented

by Black shoppers, sources say.

These notes are shared between

stores at regional levels and eventually

become unofficial company policies

determined by middle management

— often with higher-ups unaware that

the decisions are even being made.

“I know they use metrics, but do they

always follow them? No,” said a source.

“I’ve been in brown neighborhoods

and I’ve seen specific African American

products locked up next to products

that aren’t locked up. I’d be surprised if

someone is stealing these [inexpensive]

do-rags and combs, but not the [popular

skin-care brand] on the endcap.”

Inherent Bias in the Black Beauty Aisle?Walmart, Walgreens and CVS say they'll stop locking away beauty products meant for Black women — retail experts say the practice was always a bad idea. BY ELLEN THOMAS

CORPORATE AMERICA — beauty

companies included — is beginning to

acknowledge Juneteenth, the holiday

that celebrates the end of slavery in

the U.S.

Juneteenth commemorates June

19, 1865, the day the last enslaved

people in Texas were freed, more than

two years after the Emancipation

Proclamation was signed in 1863.

The holiday has risen to increased

prominence this year after the police

killing of George Floyd and subsequent

protests against police brutality.

Companies that rushed to vocalize

their support for the Black Lives

Matter movement have started to

back up Instagram posts with internal

initiatives, including expanded diversity

and inclusion training and strategic

plans to hire more Black employees.

Some have also declared

Juneteenth an official holiday, and

are giving employees the day off.

“All U.S. employees will be given

this day off to reflect not only on the

current social movement and the

historical significance of the date,

but on what we can all do to educate

ourselves and initiate meaningful,

necessary conversations,” wrote

Shiseido Americas chief executive

officer Marc Rey in an internal memo

last week. Shiseido Americas offices

will be closed for Juneteenth starting

today, and for all years going forward.

U.S. employees at the Estée Lauder

Cos. Inc. will also have a paid day off.

On Thursday, the company's inclusion

and diversity center of excellence

hosted a virtual conversation for

employees in recognition of the

holiday that centers around the Black

experience in the U.S. with Dr. Peniel

E. Joseph, a race, democracy and civil

rights scholar from the University of

Texas at Austin.

Lauder will also close U.S. retail stores

for the holiday, and manufacturing

center employees will be given the

option to take a paid day off.

While L'Oréal USA didn't declare

a company-wide paid holiday, the

business is offering employees

another personal day as a “cultural

observance day” that can be used

to honor Juneteenth or a different

culturally significant event, said a

company spokeswoman.

At P&G Beauty, there is a digital

Juneteenth event sponsored by the

National Underground Railroad

Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

Employees have been encouraged

to take a half day to learn about the

history of Juneteenth.

Outside of beauty, many

corporations, including Nike Inc.

and Target Corp., are also instituting

Juneteenth as an annual paid holiday.

Juneteenth Makes Way Into Corporate Beauty Culture“All U.S. employees will be given this day off to reflect…on the current social movement and the historical significance of the date,” said Shiseido Americas ceo Marc Rey. BY ALLISON COLLINS

A new beauty department at CVS.

P R E S E N T E D B Y :

P&G Beauty launches a new platform aimed at addressing the challenges of the industry as well as its future growth.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

Alex Keith, chief exec-utive officer of P&G Beauty is renown in the industry as an advocate and cham-pion for sustainable and socially responsi-

ble business practices. As such, she has long pioneered programs, innovations and forged partnerships to position P&G Beauty as a “positive force” for beauty, globally.

Earlier this month, P&G Beauty unveiled a next-generation approach to sustainability and social responsibility. Tagged “P&G Responsible Beauty,” the platform is a comprehensive approach that leverages “systems thinking.”

Keith presented P&G Responsible Beauty during a global webcast on June 8 titled, “Navigating Unprecedented Times: A Systems Approach to Responsible Growth.” The session was moderated by Jenny B. Fine, executive editor, beauty, WWD and Beauty Inc. The presen-tation featured members of the P&G Responsible Beauty Advisory Council — leading global NGOs who have regu-larly convened with P&G Beauty leader-ship to help shape the P&G Responsible Beauty platform. Keith also presented an executive briefing report detailing the platform, which is founded on five inter-connected guiding principles: quality and performance; safety; sustainability; trans-parency; and equality and inclusion. Also made available publicly was a white paper

on the “Safe Use of Botanicals in Beauty Products,” the culmination of 20 years of research, 40 published manuscripts and more than 50 abstracts, posters and pre-sentations shared at professional scientific congresses and meetings that provides for-mulators from small to large size beauty brands, with a robust safety approach to assess botanical ingredients and ensure their safe use in products.

The webcast was anchored by a dis-cussion about how P&G Responsible Beauty and its systems thinking approach addresses the “challenges of today and tomorrow’s growth.”

Keith and Fine were joined by Sarah Glass, senior director for private sector engagement at the World Wildlife Fund, Dr. Thivi Maruthappu, medical advisor for the Skin Health Alliance, Samantha Morrissey, sector lead for forest prod-ucts at the Rainforest Alliance, Nicola Noponen, global technical advisor at the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, and Prof. Monique Simmonds, deputy director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

 Affecting changeFine kicked off the discussion by acknowledging the ongoing social jus-tice and anti-racism protests in the U.S. and abroad. Fine said this was an appro-priate starting point, “because it really speaks to the very core of what we’re gathered here to talk about,” navigating uncertain times.

Keith said that with COVID-19 “still continuing around the world” the eco-nomic fallout from that epidemic, cou-pled with “the scourge of racism that exists, and has for centuries, is causing all of us to pause, assess and reflect.” 

Keith went to say that “equality and inclusion is an integral value for us at P&G Beauty, and is one of the five pil-lars of Responsible Beauty.” She said that P&G Beauty is keenly “focused on our ability to affect change. Our first focus has been the safety of all our employees throughout the pandemic, and now the support of and advocacy for our Black employees, especially to end racism.”

Externally, P&G has been active, making a $5 million donation via the company’s “Take on Race” platform, Keith said, adding that the program funds organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the YWCA, and the United Negro College Fund.

Keith said that P&G Beauty has been

P & G R E S P O N S I B L E B E A U T Y :

FIVE INTER–CONNECTED

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

TRANSPARENCY SUSTAINABILITY

SAFETYEQUALITY AND INCLUSION

QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE

Alex Keith

“focused on equality for all: racial, gender, people with disabilities, LGBTQ.” That focus includes using “our voice to ensure an accurate portrayal of people in adver-tising,” she explained, adding that the company has used its brands “to share insight, to provoke conversation and to take action.”

Systems ThinkingThe lessons learned in dealing with these challenges also revealed the need to take a broader, systemic approach, noting there are no “quick fixes.”

“Achieving equality requires a systemic solution,” Keith said. “And I think all the events of the last couple of weeks have

WATCH THE WWD AND

P&G RESPONSIBLE BEAUTY PANEL DISCUSSION!

P&G Responsible Beauty puts an

important stake in the ground as to how we

want to do all of our business.”

Alex Ke ith , ceo, P&G Beauty

P R E S E N T E D B Y :

helped us reflect on all that.”And it is a systems-thinking approach,

which accounts for the interconnected-ness of various parts of a larger system, that powers P&G Responsible Beauty’s five guiding principles.

In regard to working with outside organizations, Keith noted that the five members of the advisory council “help us really think with a total systems approach. They represent different aspects of the total problem that we are going after.” She then explained that systems thinking requires “recognizing the fact that if you don’t consider the whole and you don’t consider how choices in one part might impact the balance, you won’t really get a total picture, and you might have unin-tended consequences.”

For example, Keith said that not all-natural ingredients are safe, and “not all extracts are high quality. The sourc-ing of natural ingredients can have [neg-ative] impacts on the environment or the communities where the ingredients are native.”

“So ultimately, we realized that as we got further and deeper into this discus-sion, that we really needed to have mul-tiple points of view so that we could think about the total system as we go forward, and not just individual parts and pillars of it,” Keith said before doing a deep dive into each of the five principles and the impor-tance of a systems thinking approach.

For her part, Noponen said if one looks at the supply chain and the goal is to embed sustainable practices in it, for example, the inherent complexity and the interrelatedness of each part of the value chain must be considered. From sourcing and packaging to processing and transportation as well as health and safety, Noponen said that is it “important that in order to turn one of these individual chal-lenges into opportunities that we take the systems-thinking approach.”

Within the council itself, Noponen said the work with P&G Beauty offers and important “opportunity, because by draw-ing from a diversity of expertise in this advisory council, we gain a real collective understanding, and we can also collec-tively identify where we have unintended negative consequences.”

And when it comes to affecting change, Morrissey said businesses such as P&G Beauty “hold the power to help build a better future by sourcing ingredients responsibly and adapting and innovating existing business models towards more responsible and sustainable practices.”

Morrissey said, collectively, businesses, NGOs and other organizations can help “meet the increased demand for respon-sibly-made products. We’ve really seen through our work at Rainforest Alliance, in working with forest communities and with farmers, a small offering — very small at the beginning of the supply chain, when those responsible markets create demand. And when the demand is there, our farm-ers and foresters really work hard to meet it. We really are engaged and passionate to implement these changes in their farms that have benefits for the environment, but also for their livelihoods [while] help-ing to increase their livelihoods.”

 The time is nowGlass noted that the launch of P&G Responsible Beauty comes at a critical, and much-needed time. She said twenty years ago, sustainability “really meant writing checks to a worthy cause, where today more and more business leaders rec-ognize that sustainability across all levels, environmental, social, safety and quality is an integrated business need.”

“And part of what’s driving this change

is the increasingly painful cost of inaction,” Glass explained. “I think the evidence for this was clear even before the tragic loss of lives and economic crisis brought on by the global pandemic, and the long-stand-ing pain and important discussions taking place in the U.S today on racial justice. From an environmental standpoint, just last year alone, wildfires raged across California, Australia, Lebanon, Indonesia, the Amazon, and the Arctic. And they wrought havoc on supply chains, tourism and construction and saddled communi-ties with severe air pollution and signifi-cant health and productivity costs.”

It’s also good business. “While good sustainability contributes to good risk management in the face of these crises, it’s not just about preventing losses,” Glass

said. “A growing body of research shows that sustainability leadership can actually be profitable.”

From a botanical perspective, Simmonds said “quality” must be con-sidered in new terms. “What is the kind of botanical fingerprint that is associated with good quality?” she said. “Where can you get something to provide you with quality material which is also sustainable? Because the last thing you want to do is to have something that really does work, but it only comes from a narrow supply source. And you haven’t thought about that sustainability at full.”

Simmonds also said the advisory coun-cil and P&G Beauty is “able to provide that framework to evaluate plants that we’re using, and their potential to also increase the biodiversity of plants that we are using as well as to incentivize more people to protect their forests, their land-scapes, and to help the whole ecology — of the planet.”

 Safety firstIn regard to consumers, Maruthappu said the priority is safety — and this is espe-cially true amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers want to know “that the prod-ucts that they’re using are safe and they’ve been adequately tested, and that they’re actually endorsed by medical advisors or scientists or clinicians and doctors as well,”

she noted.Maruthappu said another key trend is

misinformation on the part of the con-sumer, which P&G Responsible Beauty aims to address. Maruthappu praised the release of the botanical safety guide, which will clear up misconceptions. “When it comes to naturals, you can claim that products do certain things and you can have this notion that everything that is natural is safe —and that simply isn’t true.”

Keith said she doesn’t expect consumers “to think about it in the systems thinking kind of way.That’s our job. But I do think that this pandemic and the causes of it are going to cause people to engage in beauty much more deeply — the safety, the trust, the performance of the products as well as the choices they make.”

Keith closed by saying she feels she has a “personal responsibility to make sure that the legacy we are leaving as P&G Beauty is one that moves not only the business ahead, but that does that by moving our organization ahead, moving our impact on the broader world ahead.” Keith went on to say “P&G Responsible Beauty puts an important stake in the ground as to how we want to do all of our business. I want to leave behind an organization and a business that reflects who our consumers are and is a positive force for beauty in the world.”

A systems–thinking

approach to beauty.

BEAUTYR e s p o n s i b l e

WWD STUDIOS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH P&G BEAUTY.

Pantene is partnering with the DressCode

Project, which is a glob-al network of salons

promoting gender-af-firming safer spaces

— including those for transgender patrons.

Olay was the first mass skincare brand

to offer refills with the launch of recyclable

refill pods for its best-selling Regenerist moisturizer in

the U.S. and the U.K.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day,

Old Spice and Secret were the first leading brands to

introduce all-paper, plastic-free deodorant packaging.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN

MORE ABOUT RESPONSIBLE

BEAUTY!

Long-lasting change

requires systemic

solutions”

6

JUNE 19, 2020

NEWS FEED

SHOCKWAVES ARE

reverberating around the world,

across all societies and industries,

including beauty, due to George

Floyd’s killing in May. As anti-racism

protests rip through the U.S., so, too,

are they making a mark in Europe.

In France, for instance, thousands

of people demonstrated in Paris last

weekend. On June 13, they took to

the streets in response to Floyd’s

killing and the Black Lives Matter

movement, as well as to long-

standing domestic tensions between

police and people of color.

Protesters took a knee on June 9

in the French capital and held eight

minutes of silence in memory of

Floyd. This came following two days

of marches against discrimination

throughout the nation.

Over in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo,

or People’s Square, on the morning

of June 7, hundreds of protesters

participated in eight minutes of

silence honoring Floyd. A few hours

later, hundreds in Milan voiced

their anger against systemic racism,

holding signs reading the likes of

“How many weren’t filmed” and

“Not one more.”

There have been other protests

in Italy, as well as a major swell of

solidarity in European countries

such as the U.K. and Germany.

Concurrently, all businesses are

honing in on diversity — or their lack

thereof — and beauty is not exempt.

Many beauty retailers are committing

themselves to increasingly stocking

brands launched by racially diverse

executives.

In Europe, there is a growing

number of pioneering Black female

entrepreneurs in the beauty space.

Here is a look at a few.

Pioneering Black Women In the European Beauty Space

To meet the needs of Black and mixed-race consumers, they’ve launched an app for at-home hairstyling, plus skin- and hair-care products. BY JENNIFER WEIL AND SANDRA SALIBIAN

Ma

sso

l ph

oto

gra

ph

by

Ad

rie

n B

ea

uch

eix

; Ca

thlin

e b

y C

yrill

e G

eo

rge

Je

rusa

lmi

FOUNDER: R E B E C CA CAT H L I N EBRAND: M A C O I F F E U S E A F R O LAUNCHED: 2 0 1 6 HEADQUARTERS: PA R I S

POSITIONING: Cathline recognized

that most women of color in France

do not have access to a salon

specializing in their type of hair. So

she launched the Ma Coiffeuse Afro

application to help Black and mixed-

race women easily book stylists for

at-home appointments and learn

about products meeting their needs.

Her platform, which involves more

than 300 stylists available daily,

has built up a significant following,

especially among Millennials. To

date, Ma Coiffeuse Afro has 130,000

users and 172,000 Instagram

followers, while its site counts

around 10 million page views in

total and 360,000 monthly views.

The brand has also recently

expanded with a product range,

introducing in October 2019 In

Haircare, vegan ingestibles billed

to help grow and fortify hair. The

product was co-created with Ma

Coiffeuse Afro’s community. A bottle

of 60 capsules is priced at 29.90 euros.

SOLD IN: The app service is

available in France, while In

Haircare is sold there and in Senegal.

UP NEXT: Ma Coiffeuse Afro will

be launched in the U.S., and In

Haircare is to be introduced in the

Ivory Coast before being rolled out

elsewhere in Africa.

FOUNDER: Nomshado Michelle Baca

BRAND: A Complexion Company

LAUNCHED: 2018

HEADQUARTERS: United Kingdom

POSITIONING: Defined by its

founder as "an eco-luxury African

wellness and clean beauty solutions

company for BIWOC living within

the diaspora and across Africa,"

the skin-care brand celebrates

African-native holistic practices

passed down through generations.

It centers on the concept of Ubuntu

— the belief that people exist in an

eco-community in which humans,

animals and the natural world share

a holistic and sacred bond.

The brand’s product is a powder

made from the Moringa Oleifera

plant, which boasts antioxidant

and multivitamin properties,

and has been used for centuries

in traditional medicine for its

antiviral, antidepressant and anti-

inflammatory benefits. It’s applied

as a face and body mask or used

as food supplement. Do-it-yourself

beauty and food recipes using the

plant are available on the brand's

web site.

The Organic Moringa Oleifera

Beauty Superpowder retails at

30 pounds for the 3.5-oz. format

and 50 pounds for the 8.8-oz. size.

SOLD IN: The product is available

in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.

UP NEXT: Launches in July will

include a hair-and-body product,

as well as an at-home product.

The second release of the brand's

signature natural supplement for

Black, indigenous and women of

color will be available this fall, and

A Complexion Company is to enter

Africa and Australia by yearend.

FOUNDER: Kelly Massol

BRAND: Les Secrets de Loly

FOUNDED: 2009

HEADQUARTERS: Paris

POSITIONING: Massol set out to

produce products for naturally

textured hair after having learned

about plant-based ingredients from

her grandmother and launching a

forum in 2005 through which she

The Ma Coiffeuse Afro app.

7

JUNE 19, 2020

NEWS FEED

was in touch with more than

15,000 women to find out about

the composition of their daily hair-

care products.

After creating DIY products,

Massol launched her own line

comprised of items containing 98

percent natural ingredients, replete

with a suggested four-step routine

of how to use them. The range

includes shampoos, conditioners,

styling products and accessories.

The average price for a Les Secrets

de Loly product is 17 euros.

SOLD IN: The brand is carried in

about 500 sales points, including

online through Les Secrets de Loly’s

own e-boutique, its showroom in

Paris’ 12th arrondissement and other

locations across France, Belgium,

Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, the

U.K., Canada, Senegal, Martinique

and La Réunion.

UP NEXT: Les Secrets de Loly is

in the midst of rolling out to hair

salons — it’s entered 100 since

February — and will pursue further

international expansion in 2021.

FOUNDERS: Kindja Muongo and

Christel Djimtoloum

BRAND: Andjou Cosmetics

FOUNDED: 2018

HEADQUARTERS: Brussels

POSITIONING: The founders aim to

provide high-quality beauty products

to African consumers.

“I was on a trip to Congo and met

with a group of women who told

me how hard it was to find quality

beauty products for them,” said

Muongo. “I created a Facebook page

to open a conversation around this

topic, and very quickly, our audience

grew to thousands of women, who

were telling us about the lack of

skin-related cosmetics in their city.”

So she and Djimtoloum chose to

launch the brand with one product:

Matifying Liquid Foundation, which

is water-based with zinc powder and

allows for buildable coverage.

At launch, more than 10,000 women

were on the product’s waiting list.

The foundation comes in five shades,

with the 30-ml. bottle selling for $25.

SOLD IN: The Matifying Liquid

Foundation is found in Senegal,

Ivory Coast, Congo, Congo DRC

and Cameroun.

UP NEXT: Andjou Cosmetics is

expected to expand into Nigeria

and Ghana.

FOUNDERS: Liha Okunniwa

and Abi Oyepitan

BRAND: Liha Beauty

LAUNCHED: 2017

HEADQUARTERS: United Kingdom

POSITIONING: The sleek natural

and organic skin- and home-care

brand blends West Africa’s rich plant

and traditional heritage with English

aromatherapy. The result is vegan

formulations contained in recyclable

and reusable packaging.

Standouts include jars of Nigerian

or Ghanaian Shea butter to be

applied as multipurpose moisturizers

for all skin types on dry areas, stretch

marks and scars, and can be used

as a base for DIY natural cosmetics.

There’s the Idan Oil made with cold-

pressed coconut oil into which a

tuberose flower has been immersed,

which can be used for facial or body

treatments as well as a leave-in

conditioner. The Queen Idia candle

made of coconut wax is blended with

notes of geranium, lavender and

hibiscus. Prices for the line range

from 15 pounds to 39 pounds.

SOLD IN: Liha Beauty is carried in

countries around the world through

the brand’s own e-commerce and

via stockists, including Net-a-porter.

The brand’s top markets are the

U.K. and U.S.

UP NEXT: A facial range will launch

in fall. There is to be a further

expansion into the U.S., as well as

a ramping-up of the brand’s the

e-commerce platform.

Liha Beauty will be looking

to secure a second round of funding,

after an initial round closed

last year.

FOUNDER: Abbie Oguntade

BRAND: Freya + Bailey

LAUNCHED: 2019

HEADQUARTERS: United Kingdom

POSITIONING: Freya + Bailey's

goal is to help customers manage

the damaging impact of stress, air

pollution, UV radiation and other

modern-day realities on skin radiance

and vitality via natural and vegan

skin-care products. These are also

formulated with calming, therapeutic

aromas meant to destress minds as

well as skin. Prices run from 11 pounds

to 50 pounds.

SOLD IN: Freya + Bailey is in the

U.K. and Europe via online stores.

The brand’s e-commerce platform

ships worldwide.

UP NEXT: In addition to upcoming

product launches in the wellness

space, the brand will soon roll out

in brick-and-mortar stores in United

Arab Emirates and in John Lewis

department stores in the U.K.

From Liha Beauty.

Freya + Bailey.

Le Fond de Teint Liquid Matifiant

8

JUNE 19, 2020

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

KERING'S NEW BOARD

MEMBERS¬ Emma Watson has

joined Kering’s board, becoming the chair of its sustainability

committee.The British actress

is joining the board alongside Tidjane

Thiam, who will chair the audit committee, and Jean Liu, both of whom are also well-known figures. The luxury group said it seeks to expand its expertise, improve

understanding of the group’s markets and represent a diversity of experience on the

board. Thiam was ceo of Credit Suisse and is a national of France

and Cote d'Ivoire; Liu is ceo of  a Beijing-based

transport company. Two board positions

were created.“The collective

intelligence that comes from diverse points of view and the richness

of different experiences are crucial to the future

of our organization,” François-Henri Pinault,

chairman and chief executive officer, said in

a statement.Appointed a United

Nations Global Goodwill Ambassador

in 2014, Watson, 30, spoke at the

U.N., launching the HeForShe campaign,

calling for men to advocate for

gender equality. — Mimosa Spencer

¬ Retail sales started to bounce back last month— but still have a long way to go.

Total retail and food service sales jumped a seasonally adjusted 17.7 percent in May from April, but compared to a year earlier, sales last month were still down 6.1 percent.

Apparel and accessories specialty stores showed the largest month-to-month gain, rising 188 percent in May compared with April, despite still being down 63.4 percent from a year earlier. Department stores sales

rose 36.9 percent from April and were down 25.8 percent from a year earlier.

Wall Street has been searching for direction amid a jumbled mass of data showing shifts between a comeback and worries over a second wave of infections. The sales figures help push the bullish sentiment to the fore. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 2 percent, 526.82 points, to 26,289.98 on Tuesday, with Nordstrom Inc., Gap Inc., Kohl's Corp. and Capri Holdings all seeing gains. —Evan Clark

¬ How will Nordstrom Inc. navigate through a world challenged by social unrest and COVID-19? According to chief executive officer Erik Nordstrom, it’s a matter of capitalizing on synergies between Nordstrom’s department stores, off-price, online and service hubs; flexibility; the ability to pivot, and the importance of inclusiveness. Coming out of 2019, Nordstrom was in a “strong financial position” and saw strong sales trends and healthy inventory levels, “setting us to react very quickly to what we saw happening in the last several months.”

By the end of last quarter, inventory was down 25 percent, by reducing receipts

and generating customer demand through marketing and promotions and utilizing fulfillment capabilities.Nordstrom said about 75 percent of his stores are reopened and 90 percent will be by the end of this week.

“We’re a little ahead of our plans so far, more so in our Rack stores than our full-line stores. It’s very early. We just opened up California last week, which is our biggest state." —David Moin

¬ Brazil’s retailers, which are seeing sales plunge as the country sees coronavirus cases skyrocket, need roughly $4 billion in aid to survive the crisis and help shore up cash-strapped businesses.

“Credit has not been

¬Beauty M&A activity accelerated on Thursday, with three different deals being announced. First up: L’Oréal is acquiring Thayers Natural Remedies, a U.S.-based natural skin-care brand, from Henry Thayer Co. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the brand is said to have generated sales of $44 million last year. It was founded in 1874 and is best known for its Witch Hazel Aloe Vera Formula Facial Toner….Next up came Grove Collaborative’s acquisition of Sundaily, which makes gummy supplements. Grove Collaborative is an e-commerce operation that sells natural home and

personal care products, and owns a variety of brands including the sexual wellness brand Sustain Natural and Rooted Beauty skin care. Founder and ceo Stuart Landesberg said the company is on the market for more brands…Last but not least, Cosway Company announced it bought ColorProof Color Care Authority , a professional brand for color-treated hair founded by serial entrepreneur Jim Markham (his other brands inclue PureOlogy and Abba.) Cosway, based in Carson, Calif., manufactures personal- and hair-care, and was an early investor in the brand. —WWD Staff

Beauty M&A Picks Up

Retail Sales Bounce Back

Nordstrom's Recipe for Success

Brazilian Retailers Ask for $4 Billion in Aid

L’Oréal to Acquire Thayers Natural Remedies.

Shoppers in Dallas in May.

JK Iguatemi in São Paulo.

Erik Nordstrom

The Latest From WWD Fashion.Finance.Media.Retail.

Wa

tso

n p

ho

tog

rap

h b

y M

att

Ba

ron

/R

EX

/S

hu

tte

rsto

ck; D

alle

s b

y L

M O

tero

/A

P/

Sh

utt

ers

tock

Emma Watson

flowing to retailers and while the government has announced some measures, it’s not enough,” said Fernando Pimentel, president of top apparel trade lobby Abit in São Paulo. “The Central Bank has announced a $250 billion package for all industries, including guarantees for banks to issue loans and there are tax extensions, etc. But we need more. For our industry, at least $4 billion.”São Paulo’s big malls, such as shopping JK Iguatemi, sprung back to life last week. —Ivan Castano

V I R T U A L C O N F E R E N C E

we nessJ U L Y 1 5

For more information visit fairchildlive.com

L E A R N M O R E

Leaders in holistic health, nutritional beauty, and mind, body and soul practices share a new vision of inner health and outer beauty

REQUEST INVITATION PATRICIA REIDY: PREIDY@WWD.COM | EVENT SPONSORSHIP KATE WALKER: KWALKER@WWD.COM

ANNUAL PARTNERS

where inner health meets outer beauty

ROBIN BERZIN, M.D. CEO & Founder PARSLEY HEALTH

BARBARA CLOSE Founder NATUROPATHICA HOLISTIC HEALTH INC.

KELLY DILLPrincipal IMAGINARY VENTURES

TAMMY FENDER Founder TAMMY FENDER

CHRISTOPHER GAVIGANCEO & Founder PRIMA

ELISE LOEHNEN Chief Content Officer GOOP

ALLY LOVE CEO & Founder LOVE SQUAD

ASHLEY MILLS Co-CEO & Co-founder OBÉ

NINA MULLEN Co-CEO & Co-founder HILMA

MARK MULLETT Co-CEO & Co-founder OBÉ

ERIC RYAN Chief Growth Officer OLLY

TRINITY MOUZON WOFFORD CEO & Co-founder GOLDE

10

JUNE 19, 2020

DEEP DIVE

“WHAT DO YOU DO when

nobody is watching?” asked John

Paul DeJoria, cofounder of John Paul

Mitchell Systems.

The 76-year-old doesn’t shy away

from life’s big questions and lessons,

which he’s instilled in his six children,

including daughter Michaeline, vice

chairman of the professional hair-

care company.

“I live by that every day,” she said.

The two present a solid, united

front, as they describe the dynamics

of their personal and professional

relationship in a chat over the phone.

“I think being father and daughter

does help,” she added, speaking

from her home in Los Angeles, while

DeJoria was at a residence in Austin.

“I can access him in a way that not

many people can.”

He has wisdom and history on

his side, she said, while she brings

a fresh perspective. They don’t have

disagreements, they echoed. Instead,

they collaborate, talking through

their points of view until they come

to a point of consensus.

“By the time we get through it, we

see both sides, and it’s pretty evident

what the answer should be,” said

John Paul DeJoria. “This happens at

least once a month.”

Just as he does in television

appearances, when sharing beauty

industry insights with news outlets,

John Paul DeJoria exudes a certain

zest for life and optimism, a trait

that’s arguably a driving force behind

his success. He’s been keen to share

his remarkable life story, which has

made headlines through the years.

Growing up with little money in Los

Angeles, he found himself homeless

— not once but twice — in his

younger years. It was due to a series

of misfortunes, including his first

wife leaving him and his oldest child,

and he ended up living in his car.

It was with just $700 that he started

the business in 1980 alongside the

late hairstylist Paul Mitchell, after

meeting in the early Seventies.

Today, John Paul DeJoria is a

billionaire, and John Paul Mitchell

Systems is the largest privately-owned

hair-care company in the world.

Headquartered in California, it's

found globally in about 115 countries

with estimated annual beauty sales

of $850 million last year, up about 3

percent from 2018, according to the

2019 WWD Beauty Inc Top 100 list of

the world's largest beauty companies.

Things have taken a turn, however,

since the coronavirus pandemic.

“We lost two-thirds of our sales,”

said John Paul DeJoria.

With a portfolio that includes

brands like Paul Mitchell and

TeaTree, which is a more sustainable

option, the majority of the company’s

sales come from selling to hair salons.

Business was inevitably affected

when salons closed during the crisis,

though the two shared a positive

spin, emphasizing their focus on

giving back to their community.

“The sales went down,” John Paul

DeJoria said. “However, how we

coped with it was by helping out.”

There were no furloughs at John

Paul Mitchell Systems. Though many

of the approximately 325 employees

worked from home, they all

continued to receive paychecks via

John Paul DeJoria and Mitchell’s son,

Angus, who took over as partner after

Mitchell’s passing.

“For our company, that’s $3 million

of payroll we would have saved,” John

Paul DeJoria said. “We paid for it

out of our own pocket. We gave our

people full salaries period.”

John Paul Mitchell Systems also

gave $4 million worth of free products

to salon partners to help them reopen

“no strings attached,” he added.

“When COVID-19 hit and the world

shut down, instead of thinking about

how to get our sales back up, we

focused on how to get the industry

back up,” said Michaeline DeJoria.

In the early days of the pandemic,

the company pivoted to produce hand

sanitizers and face masks for�

John Paul DeJoria, Daughter Michaeline on Creating Continuity Through Crisis In light of Father's Day, the duo — founder and vice chairman of John Paul Mitchell Systems, respectively — chat about the state of the hair-care industry. BY RYMA CHIKHOUNE

JPMS founder John Paul DeJoria with daughter Michaeline.

Ph

oto

gra

ph

co

urt

esy

of

JPM

S

11

JUNE 19, 2020

DEEP DIVE

first responders. “By investing in our

industry, we're investing in our future

and the future of countless others. By

continuing to empower and support

stylists, we're not only turning sales

around, but I believe we will all come

out stronger.”

Investing in the industry as a whole

is a key part of the company ethos,

passed on from father to daughter.

Another important factor is that

the company has stayed true to its

professional roots.

“If you ever see Paul Mitchell in any

drugstore or supermarket, it’s either

black market or counterfeit,” said John

Paul DeJoria. “We don’t sell it to them…I

believe we are the only company in the

professional beauty business that is in

the hairdressing industry. Even when

we worked out a deal with Amazon…a

piece of all sales made off Amazon go

right back to beauty salons.”

He went on: “Our competitors, four,

five companies in the professional

beauty industry of salons, they also

own the biggest companies retail,

so they’re able to take advantage

both ways, retail and professional.

Ours must be [in] the professional

beauty industry only, and by having

that commitment, it means we have

to do everything to build the entire

industry to keep our segment of

it healthy. As we grow, our entire

industry grows,” he continued.

“Hairdressers realize, wow, these

guys at Paul Mitchell are a thousand

percent behind us and that picks up a

couple extra customers along the way,

when they see how dedicated we are

to the industry and their success.”

The DeJorias also stay connected to

the community of hairstylists through

Paul Mitchell cosmetology schools. The

company is rethinking new launches

due to COVID-19, and while looking

ahead, they plan to concentrate on

creating sanitation kits, professional

product, color — which is a huge focus

— and education.

“There are over 100 schools,” said

John Paul DeJoria. “Two in Europe,

one in Asia and the rest in the U.S…

In the next 10 years, we’ll open at

least another 20.”

“I really see a lot of our business

being geared towards education and

in-salon support,” added Michaeline

DeJoria. The company is also

investing in artificial intelligence,

gadgets and technology to improve

hair analysis in partnership with

FitSkin, an AI beauty platform. “That’s

going to be brand new for us, which

we’ll be launching soon as well.”

Michaeline DeJoria has nothing

but praise to share about her father.

She learned the meaning of integrity

and hard work from him firsthand at

a young age, she said. Now 36 years

old, she’s passing those traits on to

her own kids, aged 12, nine and two.

She became director of future

development at John Paul Mitchell

Systems after studying product

development at the Fashion Institute

of Design and Merchandising, as well

as organizational communications

and industrial psychology at

Pepperdine University. In this role,

she shared insight on how to target

a younger consumer. Now, as vice

chairman, she directs the company's

future development for all brands.

“I wanted to be a writer, a mom, and

I wanted to be, quote, the boss of Paul

Mitchell,” she said with a laugh. Her

initial interest in the company began

as far back as kindergarten. “That

was always my childhood goal.…My

favorite activity as a kid was going into

the office with my dad and just playing

office and bouncing from desk to desk

and hanging out with everybody.”

She spent time immersing herself

in different departments, including

the warehouse. “I wanted to really

understand how things worked, what

the processes were like and what the

experience was like for the person

in that role,” she continued. “I knew

I needed that exposure to become a

great leader. It is to this day the most

valuable thing I’ve ever done in my

career. It absolutely makes me a better

leader and decision maker. I also knew

it was important to take the time to

earn trust, build relationships and be

on the same page as the team. I will

never be a boss that’s in a bubble.”

It was Michaeline DeJoria who

argued that more advertising dollars

needed to be invested in social media,

at a time when most of the sum was

put into TV and magazine ads.

“I’m old school,” said John Paul

DeJoria. “And please remember this,

I do not have e-mail. I do not go on

the Internet. I don’t use social services.

I do phone calls and texting. That’s

it, by choice.…Anyway, she proved to

me, yeah, there’s something to look

at there. So, we gave a seven-figure

bracket additionally to the social

media that she recommended. One

year later, we analyzed what we did,

and she beat us three to one. We were

getting 300 percent more out of social.”

A skilled salesman, John Paul

DeJoria is an entrepreneur at his core

with other ventures that include tequila

company Patrón Spirits Co., which he

founded in 1989 with businessman

Martin Crowley. Two years ago, it was

acquired by Bacardi Ltd. for a reported

enterprise value of $5.1 billion.

“Successful people do all the things

unsuccessful people don’t want to

do,” said John Paul DeJoria. “It’s

doing all the extra things, when

nobody else is watching.”

It’s going the additional mile, he

added, “knocking on every door,”

which he literally did for a job early

on, selling encyclopedias door-to-door

instead of heading to college in order

to make money: “I would knock on 100

doors, commission only. They would all

be closed on my face, but on door 101,

I was just as excited and enthusiastic

as I was on the very first door.…

Eventually, I got into a door and could

make a presentation. You learn a lot of

rejection, and it doesn’t faze you.”

These days, as the face of the

company and chairman of the board,

John Paul DeJoria concentrates on

philanthropic endeavors, which were

heightened these recent months

during the pandemic. He’s helped

provide food and shelter to the

homeless and those in need in the

Austin area. And though there was

a loss of sales to the business, he's

made his team a priority, he said.

“Success unshared is failure,” he said.

“Make sure your people are happy. As

soon as we could afford it, several years

after we were in business, everyone got

free lunch, and they still do.”

Company turnover is less than 150

people, he added. “They don’t want to

leave, and we don’t want them to leave.”

They’ve started to see a return

to their “pre-COVID-19 numbers,”

said Michaeline DeJoria. “We will

end up in a better place than we

thought we would when everything

shut down, and there was no end in

sight. My expectation for the future

is that our annual sales will do what

we have always done…continue to

grow year over year. My goal for the

future is that we take those growth

percentages to new heights.”

John Paul DeJoria attributes the

company’s success to the quality of

the products themselves, which he

noted have never been tested on

animals: “Some of my first products

I came out with 40 years ago,

shampoo one, shampoo two, the

conditioner, sculpting lotion, are still

good sellers 40 years later. We do not

want to be in the selling business.

We want to be in the reorder

business. What that means is, that

our product must be so good and

the end result of it must be so

outstanding in the beauty industry

that people will want to reorder it.

We do everything for longevity.”

In true character, he’s optimistic

when looking to the future. The

industry is “ready for anything,” he

continued. “Even though this has

been a very unfortunate situation,

we’ve learned that if it ever pops

up again, we know the sanitation

necessities now. We are prepared.” ■ Ph

oto

gra

ph

co

urt

esy

of

JPM

S

John Paul DeJoria with then-one-year-old Michaeline.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT RACHAEL DESANTIS, BEAUTY DIRECTOR AT RDESANTIS@WWD.COM

J O I N A

Provide of-the-moment, relevant thought leadership

content and share solutions from your company with

a custom webinar discussion.

W E B I N A R

13

JUNE 19, 2020

EYE CANDY

Veronica Webb on Walking the WalkThe supermodel revisits critical points in her career, and discusses representation in the modeling industry.

BY JAMES MANSO

VERONICA WEBB HAS seen a lot of progress in fashion. “When

I first started, you could count the number of Black women who had

Vogue covers on one hand, there were no cosmetics contracts,” she

said. But she was instrumental in changing that dynamic, and with her

personal role models (and fast friends) Iman, Beverly Johnson and Pat

Cleveland, the tides began to shift in her favor. “I felt like Bambi on ice,

landing flat on my face, but at least my face had a smile on it,” she said.

“Because the fashion business is harder for people of color to enter

and then be able to climb to the top of commercial success, there’s a

kind of camaraderie. Even still to this day, it’s not unusual to be the only

person of color on set,” Webb said. Despite still being underrepresented

in the industry, Webb credits much of her success to what little

representation she did see, citing Iman’s “Polished Ambers” ad for

Revlon and the mentorship of former Vogue editor André Leon Talley

as instrumental to her success.

One milestone of Webb’s career includes her landmark contract with

Revlon, the first long-term contract for a Black model with a cosmetics

company. The turning point wasn’t just professional or personal, it was

about accessibility of product, according to Webb. “What was so great

about Revlon, now my sisters, my mom, my fans, my friends, we all can

get the makeup at the drugstore, and at a drugstore price,” Webb said.

“I still have women who come up to me and say, ‘When your ads came

out, we took that to our local drugstore, and made them stock the

makeup.’ That was a lot of peoples’ first experience being able to try

a full range of shades.”

Some of her memories of her time in modeling were not so bright,

although more often than not, they came with a happy ending, such

as her cover of Essence. “No one would lend clothes, and Azzedine

Alaïa lent one of the first laser-cut pieces ever produced. The editor

was crying,” Webb said. “Designers used to say they didn’t want their

clothes to become aspirational for people of color.” The saga ended with

a showcase of Alaïa and Webb’s friendship.

Webb references Adut Akech, Riley Montana, Winnie Harlow and

Joan Smalls as a few of the faces she looks forward to seeing in more

campaigns. “For everything that’s happening in society now, even

though there are so many injustices and atrocities, we’re more open

to change than we ever have been before,” Webb said, as nationwide

protests over the killing of George Floyd have spurred conversations

about racism in America. “Is there still tokenism, discrimination? Of

course. But we are moving ahead. Don’t forget that we’re moving ahead.” CF

DA

, Vic

tori

a's

Se

cre

t p

ho

tog

rap

hs

by

Ma

tt B

aro

n/

RE

X/

Sh

utt

ers

tock

; 19

85

by

Th

om

as

Ian

na

cco

ne

; Bla

ck a

nd

wh

ite

ru

nw

ay

by

Joh

n A

qu

ino

; Mill

er

sho

w b

y R

od

in B

an

ica

At Stephen Sprouse in 1985.

At the CFDA Awards, in 2019.

Veronica Webb at the Victoria's Secret

Fashion Show after party in 2016.

At Nicole Miller in 2019.

At Isaac Mizrahi in 1994.